MENTAL    CONFLICTS 
AND  MISCONDUCT 


The  Individual  Delinquent 
Mental  Conflicts  and  Misconduct 


Jgj>  William  l^ealp,  M.'B,  anb 
iflarp  tKenncp  ^ealp 

Pathological  Lying,  Accusation  and 
Swindling 


MENTAL    CONFLICTS 
AND   MISCONDUCT 


BY 

WILLIAM   HEALY 

DIRECTOR   PSYCHOPATHIC   INSTITUTE 
JUVENILE   COURT,  CHICAGO 


46G35 

BOSTON 
LITTLE,   BROWN,    AND   COMPANY 

1923 


Copyright,  1917, 
Bt  Little,  Brown,  and  Company. 


All  rights  reserved 


I  ti  l,*tt,  «.fc<.».  I  V  tl  vvt,l.  ,.  etc  £ 


C  t 


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TO 

ELMER  ERNEST  SOUTHARD 

IN    TOKEN   OF    ADMIRATION 

WHICH   A   LONG   STRETCH   OF   YEARS 

HAS  NOT   DIMMED 


■> 


0  ■    ■-Ji 


■>v.       The  endowment  of  the  Juvenile  Psychopathic  Insti- 
^    tute  for  five  years  through  the  generosity  of  Mrs.  W.  F. 
Dummer  first  made  possible  the  studies  of  which  this 
.  volume  represents  a  part. 


^ 


^»- 


PREFACE 

The  great  value  of  understanding]  the  foundations 
of  conduct  is  clearly  shown  by  such  living  facts  as  are 
gathered  together  in  this  volume.  Bearing  upon  one 
type  of  causation  of  misconduct,  we  have  here  not 
only  a  rational  psychological  theory,  but  also  abundant 
concrete  material.  An  important  field  is  opened  before 
us,  especially  interesting  because  of  the  revelation  (a)  of 
potent  subconscious  mental  mechanisms  working  ac- 
cording to  definite  laws  of  mental  life,  and  (6)  of  types 
of  hidden  early  experiences  which  definitely  evoke  these 
mental  processes  that  are  forerunners  of  misconduct. 

Troublesome  behavior,  originating  in  the  experiences 
and  mechanisms  here  under  discussion,  ranges  widely 
from  mere  faults  of  social  attitude  to  severe  delinquency 
and  crime  dependent  upon  uncontrolled  anti-social 
motivation  or  impulse.  Cases  having  this  causation 
occur  so  frequently  that  specific  knowledge  of  their 
nature  should  be  part  of  the  equipment  of  all  who 
have  to  pass  judgment  or  to  advise  concerning  mis- 
doing and  misdoers. 

Much  reliance  has  always  been  placed  upon  the 
idea  that  admonition  and  punishment  is  an  effectual 
way  of  meeting  undesirable  conduct.     However,  even 


X  PREFACE 

the  simplest  observations  show  the  very  great  failure 
of  these  methods.  No  thoroughly  effective  scheme  of 
punishment  can  be  part  of  our  civilization.  We  have 
set  our  faces  against  barbaric  retribution  and  absolute 
prevention  of  offense.  Some  of  us  even  hesitate  at 
corporal  punishment  of  children.  So  far  as  delinquency 
and  crime  are  concerned,  with  more  or  less  self -con- 
sciousness and  with  much  groping  towards  progress, 
we  stand  nowadays,  with  our  reformatories  and  pro- 
bation systems  and  what-not,  definitely  for  the  prin- 
ciple of  inducing  in  the  offender  self -directed  tendencies 
towards  more  desirable  behavior.  It  requires  little 
discernment  to  see  how  deeply  the  success  of  such 
undertakings  must  depend  on  wise  adaptation  to  the 
causes  of  misconduct. 

The  remarkable  results  following  upon  exploration 
of  mental  conflicts,  at  least  when  there  has  been  any 
fair  chance  for  building  up  better  impulses  in  these 
cases  we  have  been  studying,  show  most  concretely 
how  earnest  seeking  for  causes  forms  the  effective 
approach  to  treatment  of  misconduct. 

Before  the  reader  goes  into  the  body  of  the  work,  I 
would  have  It  thoroughly  understood  that  our  studies 
are  tied  to  no  one  psychological  school.  The  efforts 
at  mental  analysis  which  are  here  represented  have 
been  stimulated  more  by  uncovering  facts  than  by 
any  theories,  although  I  gratefully  acknowledge  the 
help  to  appreciation  of  principles  which  has  been  derived 
from  various  writers  on  psychoanalysis  and  kindred 
topics.  It  has  been  no  small  aid  to  scientific  convic- 
tion that  many  others,  even  though  working  In  sepa- 
rate fields,  clearly  discern  that  often  there  are  covert 
mental  mechanisms  basically  affecting  attitudes  and 
conduct. 


PREFACE  xi 

The  reader  who  profits  by  this  work  is,  with  the 
author,  especially  indebted  to  Doctor  Augusta  F. 
Bronner  for  her  studies  of  cases  and  her  aid  in  the 
preparation  of  this  volume. 


WILLIAM  HEALY. 


WiNNETKA,  Illinois, 
November,  1916. 


I 


I 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

Preface ix 

I    Introduction 1 

II    General  Principles 15 

III  Applications 34 

IV  Methods 55 

V    Conflicts  Accompanied  by  Obsessive  Imagery     .  78 

VI    Conflicts  Causing  Impelling  Ideas      ...  97 

Vll     Criminal  Careers  Developed  from  Conflicts     .  113 

VIII     Cases  Readily  Analyzed 148 

IX    Difficult  Cases 167 

X    Conflict  Arising  from  Sex  Experiences      .         .183 

XI    Conflicts  Arising  from  Secret  Sex  Knowledge  194 
XII    Conflicts    Concerning    Parentage    or     Other 

Matters ,        .  213 

XIII  Conflicts  in  Abnormal  Mental  Types         .        .  226 

XIV  Conflicts  Resulting  in  Stealing          .         .        .  243 
XV    Conflicts  Resulting  in  Running  Away        .        .  275 

XVI    Conflicts  Resulting  in  Other  Delinquencies      .  292 

XVII    Conclusions 312 

Index         .     " 327 


MENTAL  CONFLICTS  AND 
MISCONDUCT 

CHAPTER  I 
INTRODUCTION 

A  REMARKABLE,  dynamic  quality  characterizing 
certain  hidden  mental  reactions  to  experiences  is 
responsible  in  some  individuals  for  the  production  of 
misconduct,  or,  indeed,  whole  careers  of  delinquency. 
These  experiences  and  reactions  not  only  develop  as 
an  unrecognized  background  in  the  special  case  (they 
often  are  not  even  consciously  framed  as  causal  in  the 
offender's  own  mind),  but  the  fact  of  the  existence  of 
this  type  of  mental  causation  is  yet  to  be  made  a  part 
of  general  knowledge.  It  is  my  task  to  set  forth  with 
abundant  illustration  the  nature  of  these  most  im- 
portant mechanisms  of  mental  life. 

In  view  of  the  newness  of  the  idea  of  searching  out 
mental  factors  of  conduct,  we  have  waited  several 
years  to  see  if  the  discovery  of  these  apparently  defi- 
nite psychological  principles  held  true  for  an  ample 
number  of  cases ;  meanwhile  watching  the  effects  of 
attempts  to  adjust  affairs  in  the  mental  life  of  certain 
offenders.  Sufficient  time  has  thus  elapsed,  and  our 
studies  are  now  ready  for  detailed  publication.     They 

1 


2  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

will  have  for  many  the  greatest  interest  of  any  of  our 
findings. 

Some  general  facts  may  first  be  stated.  In  the 
consultation  room  with  parents  and  even  with  delin- 
quents themselves,  or  during  court  hearings,  or  in 
considering  the  statements  of  probation  oflBcers  who 
have  striven  to  avert  further  misdoing,  sometimes  a 
curious  aspect  of  the  case  becomes  apparent.  It 
may  stand  out  clearly  that  the  individual  experiences 
a  distinct  inner  urge  towards  misdoing  —  misdoing 
that  often  leads  to  little  else  than  anxious  apprehen- 
sion and  other  suffering  on  the  part  of  the  misdoer. 
The  painfulness  of  these  effects,  even  as  a  repeated 
experience,  is  not  only  apparent  to  the  observer,  but 
may  be  well  recognized  by  the  delinquent.  This 
untoward  drive  of  something  in  the  concealed  mental 
Jife  is  seen  already  in  young  children,  is  much  more 
frequent  in  adolescents,  and  undoubtedly  exists  in 
many  adults.  In  the  last,  however,  the  long  and 
strong  effects  of  environmental  conditions  and  habits 
cover  deeply  the  evidences  of  original  forces.  What 
do  such  formidable  urgings  represent.'* 

It  is  clear  to  the  onlooker  that  the  inner  driving 
force  does  not  proclaim  itself  in  any  way  as  such,  that 
it  takes  little  heed  of  reason  or  prudence,  that  it  ex- 
hibits a  strange  energy  from  a  source  so  unsuspected. 
Then,  if  sincere  and  patient  investigation  is  under- 
taken with  the  delinquent,  the  whole  phenomenon 
may  be  revealed  as  a  reaction  to  component  parts  of 
mental  life  and  to  certain  prior  experiences.  Hardly 
ever  is  the  chain  of  causation  found  to  have  been  self- 
perceived  or  self-formulated.  Relationship  of  the 
active  misconduct,  regarded  as  effect,  to  the  under- 
lying cause,  is  anything  but  obvious  on  account  of 


INTRODUCTION  3 

repression  of  the  original  trouble-producing  ideas  and 
emotions.  Here  superficial  facts  are  thoroughly  mis- 
leading in  regard  to  antecedents.  The  displayed 
energy  is  only  to  be  traced  back  along  devious  or 
vicarious  paths  to  a  distant,  pent-up  source,  where 
the  tendency  to  action  is  generated  through  the  high 
emotional  import  of  the  original  experience  and  of  the 
mental  states  superimposed.  In  such  a  case  the  re- 
pressions, the  escape  of  energy  along  undesirable 
channels,  the  outcome  in  misconduct  truly  represent 
mental  strife,  mental  conflict. 

For  readers  unfamiliar  with  certain  trends  of  thought 
now  influencing  psychology  and  particularly  psycho- 
logical medicine  I  may  say  that  if  the  above  terse 
statement  does  not  seem  entirely  comprehensible, 
the  subject  receives  further  elucidation  in  the  dis- 
cussion of  principles  and]  methods  of  studying  cases 
offered  in  following  chapters.  There  is  no  need  for 
lack  of  clarity  in  treating  this  most  interesting  phase 
of  mental  life ;  I  deal  with  it  only  along  a  road  that 
is  well  lighted  by  ascertained  data.  The  concrete- 
ness  of  the  case  illustrations  will  certainly  serve  to 
bring  about  good  understanding  of  what  can  be  dis- 
covered and  what  can  be  done  in  cases  of  misconduct 
of  the  type  we  have  under  consideration. 

The  study  and  interpretation  of  these  specially  in- 
volved mental  mechanisms,  for  so  they  are  well-termed, 
in  their  relation  to  misconduct,  I  have  all  along  felt 
should  proceed  with  full  conservatism.  It  can  read- 
ily be  seen  that  we  have  not  in  the  least  overdone  the 
central  idea,  have  not  drawn  far-fetched  conclusions,  or 
been  carried  away  by  the  dicta  of  writers  who  perceive 
the  wealth  of  possible  theory  involved  in  discussion 
of  hidden  mental  backgrounds.     It  is  likely,  rather, 


4  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

that  some  students  ardently  seeking  mental  causa- 
tions in  the  field  of  medical  psychology  will  feel 
that  we  have  not  done  justice  to  the  interpretation 
of  many  subtleties.  More  concerning  the  intricacies 
of  the  subject  will  be  developed  in  later  parts  of  this 
work,  but  such  points  always  appear  to  us  of  much 
less  importance  than  grappling  the  main  issue. 

The  evolution  of  our  own  thought  concerning  the 
relation  of  mental  conflicts  to  misconduct  has  been 
singularly  simple  and  direct.  It  proceeded  from  no 
a  priori  expectation  or  formulation  of  principles. 
Indeed,  until  quite  ingenuous  inquiry  into  the  springs 
of  conduct  elicited  this  type  of  fact  for  us,  we  were 
not  aware  that  mental  conflict  played  any  part  here. 
The  analogy  to  what  has  been  discovered  in  other 
fields  by  mental  analysis  or  psychoanalysis,  particu- 
larly as  applied  to  functional  nervous  disorders  which 
are,  after  all,  largely  problems  of  conduct,  was  per- 
ceived later.  Starting  thus  firmly  with  actual  facts, 
we  have  continuously  attempted  further  investigation 
only  with  our  feet  well  on  the  ground.  I  speak  par- 
ticularly of  this  because  in  some  quarters  the  concept 
of  mental  conflicts  seems  to  have  offered  wings  for 
soaring  high  in  the  realms  of  speculative  thought. 

Many  nonprofessional  people  will  balk,  no  doubt, 
at  the  diflSculties  implied  in  our  insistence  on  the 
necessity  for  such  intensive  study  of  not  a  few  cases 
of  misdoing.  Certainly  parents  and  others  most 
intimately  concerned,  while  often  the  very  ones  who 
suggest  investigation,  too  frequently  show  themselves, 
as  may  be  seen  by  our  case  material,  quite  unable  to 
grasp  the  purport  of  the  results  of  investigation.  And 
seriously  significant  here  is  the  well-rooted  general 
supposition  that  tendencies  to  misdoing  can  be  cor- 


INTRODUCTION 

rected  by  superficial  attitudes  towards  them,  such,  for 
instance,  as  the  administration  of  ordinary  forms  of 
retribution.  But,  indeed,  in  view  of  failures  to  induce 
moral  reconstruction,  ranging  from  attempts  in  family 
life  to  those  undertaken  by  the  law,  failures  shown 
by  statistics  and  by  individual  cases,  there  should  be 
no  objections  because  of  the  comparative  difficulty  of 
getting  at  underlying  causes. 

The  main  situation  to  be  comprehended  is  that  the 
human  mind  is  an  immensely  complex  organism,  and 
that  if  we  are  to  cope  with  its  conduct-producing 
powers,  we  must  know  them.  Obstacles  to  knowledge 
may  be  encountered,  but  form  no  excuse  if  they  are 
not  insurmountable.  After  all,  in  at  least  fairly  intel- 
ligent and  young  individuals,  our  experience  shows 
that  the  deep-lying  essentials  may  usually  be  ascer- 
tained. The  task  requires  skill  in  appreciations  and 
discernments,  and  acquaintance  with  special  methods ; 
the  time  demanded  is  only  such  as  any  serious  human 
problem  deserves. 

There  is  no  reason,  with  the  spread  of  knowledge 
concerning  this  subject,  why  we  may  not  rationally 
expect  a  rapid  growth  of  demand  for  such  thorough 
study  of  difficult  cases  of  delinquency  as  may  bring 
to  light  the  fact  of  mental  conflict  when  it  exists.  It 
would  hardly  do  to  define  "difficult  cases"  as  merely 
those  instances  of  delinquency  generally  regarded  as 
hard  to  explain,  because  superficial  accounting  for 
wrongdoing  is  altogether  too  common.  We  con- 
tinually meet  all  sorts  of  rough-and-ready  explanations 
of  delinquency  offered  by  everybody,  from  parents  to 
experienced  judges  —  explanations  which  seem  en- 
tirely satisfactory  as  a  theory  to  the  person  offering 
them,  even  when  the  field  of  inquiry  in  the  given  case 


6  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

has  not  in  the  least  been  covered.  In  our  case-histo- 
ries, if  it  were  worth  while,  considerable  space  might 
be  given  to  citing  the  various  false  causal  interpreta- 
tions which  had  been  passed  along  as  if  they  represented 
known  facts. 

As  a  contrast  to  this,  I  may  insist  that  other  workers 
will  have  just  our  experiences  in  discovery  if  they 
assume  the  highly  practical  task  of  intimately  study- 
ing the  causative  factors  of  delinquency.  It  was  not 
long  before  we  were  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  such 
information  as  might  be  obtained  by  mental  testing, 
physical  examination,  by  learning  the  main  points  of 
developmental  and  family  history,  and  by  inquiring 
into  companionship  and  other  environmental  condi- 
tions, was  absolutely  insufficient  to  explain  the  essen- 
tials of  the  development  of  a  marked  tendency  to 
delinquency  in  certain  cases.  Certain  elements  of 
inner  mental  life  had  to  be  sought  out  and  invoked 
for  explanation,  even  if  practical  issues  alone  were  in 
view. 

If  there  Is  practical  value  in  this  deeper  investigation 
it  must  be  evidenced  by  positive,  determinable,  thera- 
peutic results.  Not  only  do  I  grant  this  point,  but 
I  have  always  insisted  on  it  since  I  first  realized  how 
mental  analysis,  as  a  general  method,  tends  to  work 
over  into  the  field  of  psychology  of  conduct.  It  may 
be  said  at  once  that  some  early  cases  gave  such  un- 
mistakable proof  of  the  possibility  of  great  service 
being  rendered  through  ascertaining  the  mental  con- 
flict back  of  the  misconduct,  that  since  then  there  has 
never  been  with  us  serious  doubt  of  the  worth  of  this 
method.  Our  case-studies,  as  given  later,  will  sustain 
the  point.  In  fact,  even  the  failures  —  from  which  I 
contend  we  may  learn  nearly  as  much  as  from  sue- 


INTRODUCTION  7 

cesses  —  often  show  the  continued  existence  of  just 
those  elements  which  we  clearly  recognized  it  was  nec- 
essary to  eliminate  from  the  environment  or  from  the 
mind  in  order  that  the  correlated  conduct-tendencies 
might  be  altered. 

In  the  literature  dealing  with  delinquency  and  crime 
we  must  plead  that  practically  no  help  or  hint  was  to 
be  found  concerning  the  import  of  mental  conflicts 
for  the  production  of  misconduct ;  as  a  matter  of  fact 
the  present  volume  offers  the  first  approximation  to  a 
careful  study  on  the  subject.  However,  in  the  pub- 
lications of  a  number  of  students  of  mental  analysis 
or  psychoanalysis,  we  have  found  much  that  has 
aided  our  understanding  of  the  mental  life  uncovered 
to  us  by  our  own  cases.  Something  of  our  debt  to 
other  investigators  will  appear  in  later  chapters ;  here 
I  will  merely  state,  in  general,  that  the  deeper  strata 
of  the  mind  that  experts  have  tapped  in  their  endeavor 
to  study  the  foundations  of  the  neuroses  have  revealed 
data  that  serve  to  strengthen  greatly  some  of  our 
findings. 

How  important  this  subject  of  mental  conflicts 
really  is  in  relation  to  delinquency,  as  witnessed  to  by-- 
the  proportionate  number  of  cases,  is  a  question  already, 
no  doubt,  in  the  minds  of  some  readers.  It  would  be 
difficult  to  give  an  estimate  that  might  serve  as  an 
indicator  for  any  given  situation.  We  are  uncertain 
even  about  the  totals  in  our  own  series.  (We  find 
no  practical  difference  between  the  proportions  for 
each  sex.)  In  our  first  thousand  cases  of  youthful 
recidivists  we  found  seventy-three  instances  where 
mental  conflict  was  a  main  cause  of  the  delinquency, 
but  during  the  first  year  or  more  of  our  work  we  were 
not  aware  of  the  possible  frequency  of  this  factor  and 


8  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

very  likely  did  not  always  discover  it.  Even  later 
we  have  undoubtedly  failed  sometimes  to  ascertain 
this  essential  fact ;  it  is  by  no  means  always  easy  to 
uncover  the  conflict.  In  the  second  series  of  a  thou- 
sand recidivists,  studied  by  Doctor  Augusta  F.  Bronner 
and  myself  during  two  years,  although  we  found 
seventy-four  examples  of  mental  conflict,  we,  again, 
would  be  far  from  contending  that  this  number  repre- 
sents the  true  total.  Many  times,  in  the  exigencies 
of  court  work,  only  the  comparatively  superficial 
facts  of  mental  and  physical  conditions,  with  some 
points  about  family  and  habits  and  environment,  have 
been  elicited.  But  even  our  incomplete  showing  of 
over  seven  per  cent,  for  each  series  looms  large  enough 
to  demonstrate  the  considerable  importance  of  this 
cause,  and  to  show  that  any  student  of  unselected 
delinquents  is  very  likely  to  see  many  of  these  par- 
ticularly intricate  cases. 

Much  more  important  than  the  matter  of  numbers 
is  the  fact  that,  on  account  of  the  recurrence  of  the 
impulse  to  misbehavior,  amounting  at  times  almost  to 
a  criminalistic  compulsion,  some  of  the  most  impor- 
tant cases  of  delinquency  are  those  involving  the  prob- 
lem of  mental  conflict.  The  cases  cited  will  amply 
demonstrate  this.  Over  many  years  conduct  may  be 
tinged  with  a  malign  show  of  anti-social  tendencies, 
and  in  some  cases  a  very  definite,  unfortunate  social 
attitude  is  assumed.  Indeed,  a  long  career  of  mis- 
deeds may  be  evolved  from  the  primary  cause  and  its 
renewals. 

Even  in  this  introductory  chapter  I  would  emphasize 
other  incident  factors,  over  and  beyond  the  original 
mental  experience  and  its  repression,  which  enter 
into  the  making  of  delinquent  careers  upon  a  basis  of 


INTRODUCTION  9 

mental  conflict.  In  the  first  place  it  may  be,  as  often 
suggested,  that  a  special  type  of  temperament  is  in 
part  responsible  for  this  given  reaction.  Possibly  this 
is  so,  but,  of  course,  the  fact  implies  no  mental  abnor- 
mality ;  indeed,  it  may  well  be  that  individuals  par- 
ticularly well  endowed  in  emotional  qualities  and  finer 
feelings  are  the  more  prone  to  suffer  from  mental 
repressions  and  conflicts. 

Then,  next,  may  be  mentioned  certain  superimposed 
elements  entering  into  the  making  of  delinquent  tend- 
encies in  these  cases  of  mental  conflict,  not  that  they 
are  always  present  as  major  factors,  but  the  chance  of 
their  playing  an  important  part  is  so  great  that  con- 
sideration of  them  is  ever  necessary.  To  enumerate : 
the  thought  or  impulse  as  once  held  may  very  likely 
crop  up  again  in  the  mind  through  the  active  forces 
of  memory  and  of  association  and  habit  formation. 
Then  there  may  be  persisting  environmental  influences 
which  further  the  development  of  the  delinquent  tend- 
ency, even  though  the  genesis  of  the  latter  has  been 
for  the  most  part  a  matter  of  the  inner  mental  life. 
There  are  the  suggestions  coming  from  various  fea- 
tures of  living  conditions  in  an  old  neighborhood, 
from  an  already  achieved  reputation,  from  old  asso- 
ciates in  delinquency,  or  from  companions  known 
while  under  detention.  There  is  the  sorry  effect  of  a 
bad  reputation  upon  chances  for  employment,  and  the 
effect  of  police  surveillance,  —  warranted,  of  course, 
but  which  leads  to  the  former  delinquent  continually 
looking  upon  himself  as  a  possible  offender.  Even  a 
family  attitude  towards  an  offender  may  have  the 
same  result.  We  have  watched  all  of  these  adventitious 
forces  at  work  in  some  cases  and  have  observed  that 
where  no  change  of  conditions  has  been  carried  out, 


10  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

the  continuance  of  the  tendency  to  offense  has  seemed 
inevitable.  CompHcated  and  difficult  for  treatment 
as  the  situation  may  sometimes  appear,  the  various 
elements  are  not  indistinguishable.  The  problem  in 
any  one  of  these  cases  where  other  elements  are  added 
to  the  original  mental  conflict  is  typically  the  prob- 
lem of  reformation  of  criminals  in  general ;  there  are 
many  social  maladjustments  which  stand  in  the  way 
of  betterment. 

The  interest  and  import  that  this  whole  subject  of 
the  relationship  of  mental  conflicts  to  misconduct 
should  have  for  a  wide  range  of  readers  is  just  the 
interest  and  import  that  the  study  of  causations  should 
have  for  all  those  concerned  in  any  way  with  the 
problems  of  conduct.  First  there  are  the  parents ;  they 
could  be  saved  a  vast  deal  of  trouble  and  disgrace  if 
they  understood  and  could  head  off  delinquent  ten- 
dencies at  the  time  of  beginnings.  Perhaps  nothing 
stands  out  any  clearer  in  our  cases  than  the  fact  that 
those  nearest  have  been  totally  ignorant  of  what  has 
been  going  on  in  the  mental  life  of  the  young  persons 
in  question,  and  often  have  not  known  of  exceedingly 
important  experiences.  Then,  teachers,  if  acquainted 
at  all  with  this  subject,  might  often  surmise  enough  to 
at  least  advise  professional  investigation.  Judges  and 
probation  ofiicers,  who  see  the  well-defined  cases  of 
delinquency,  often  gather  facts  concerning  the  delin- 
quent which  should  suggest  every  reason  for  deep 
inquiry  into  causes  and  beginnings.  The  observed 
ineffectiveness  of  attempted  superficial  remedies  under 
the  law,  in  many  cases,  should  be  sufficient  to  demon- 
strate the  necessity  for  thoughtful,  patient,  profes- 
sional consideration  of  all  that  could  possibly  cause 
the    misconduct.     Perhaps    we   might   also    say   that 


INTRODUCTION  11 

institutional  people,  by  vocation  engaged  in  handling 
delinquents,  are  falling  short  of  their  highest  duties 
and  greatest  possibilities  if  they,  in  their  turn,  are  not 
searching  for  all  things  curative.  And  as  for  pastors 
and  all  who  attempt  moral  guidance,  it  is  perfectly 
patent  that  they  can  hardly  be  thoroughly  qualified 
for  their  attempts  in  many  directions  if  they  do  not 
have  as  part  of  their  armamentarium  knowledge  of  the 
essential  facts  pertaining  to  the  genesis  of  misdoing. 

Who  professionally  shall  be  the  analyst  to  delve 
into  genetics  in  the  actual  case  depends  in  any  given 
situation  upon  who  is  personally  suited  and  educated 
for  the  task.  It  is  a  work  for  medicopsychologists 
and  perhaps  for  psychologists  untrained  in  medicine, 
but  it  also  strikes  one  that  it  is  a  rich  field  for  properly 
equipped  pastors,  —  men  who,  on  account  of  their 
very  calling,  should  be  trained  to  fathom  the  founda- 
tions of  conduct. 

The  bearing  of  such  findings  as  ours  on  the  whole 
scheme  of  handling  offenders  under  the  law  is  as 
striking  as  it  is  obvious.  It  might  well  serve  as  a 
theme  for  many  a  discussion.  Few  words  are  here 
necessary  ;  we  and  many  others  have  long  since  dwelled 
on  the  to-be-expected  inefficiency  of  any  system  con- 
structed by  the  law  for  handling  human  beings  which 
is  not  founded  on  first  principles  of  understandings. 
What  can  be  expected  if  no  early  effort  is  made  to 
discover  the  dynamic  sources  from  which  delinquency 
emanates  ? 

A  great  variety  of  misconduct  arises  upon  the  basis  ^ 
of  mental  conflict.     In  our  observed  cases,  the  range 
is  from  the  less  serious,  but  sustained  bad  behavior  of 
childhood,  to  deeds  of  actual  crime.     As  will  be  seen 
in  the  following  list,  there  is  little  in  the  way  of  mis- 


12  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

behavior  to  which  mental  conflict  may  not  lead.     We 
have  seen  examples  of  : 

General  troublesomeness  and  mischief  making,  in- 
cluding destructiveness. 

Stubbornness,  obstinacy,  chronic  willfulness. 
Truancy. 

Remaining  out  over  night  and  running  away  from 
home. 

Vagrancy. 

Stealing,  including  pathological  stealing.  (We  desire 
to  avoid  the  use  of  the  ill-defined  term  "kleptomania. ") 

Obtaining  money  by  false  representations.     Forgery. 

Exhibition  of  bad  temper.  General  violent  be- 
havior. 

Deliberate  malicious  mischief  and  violence. 

Sexual  offenses.^ 

Cruelty  —  sadistic  offenses. 

Self-injury  of  the  nature  of  masochistic  offenses. 

Injury  to  others,  or  attempt  to  injure. 

(It  should  be  readily  conceded  that  the  social  sins 
defined  by  the  law  do  not  represent  any  deeper  per- 
versities and  often  are  not  as  significant  for  the  pro- 
duction of  unhappiness  as  are  many  of  the  chronic 
exhibitions  of  ugly  family  attitude,  of  selfishness,  miser- 
liness, bad  temper,  of  overbearing  or  unfair  business 
methods.  And  we  doubt  not  that  many  of  these  other 
forms  of  ill  conduct  also  may  arise  from  subconscious 
mental  conflicts.  Indeed,  analysts  of  mental  processes 
have  recently  been  showing  this  to  be  true.)  ^ 

1  In  our  chapter  on  Applications  we  have  given  the  reasons  for  limiting 
our  discussion  of  sexualistic  offenses. 

*  O.  Pfister's  analytic  researches  into  the  causes  of  family  hatred  offer 
an  instance.  Jahrhuch  fur  Psychoanalytische  Forschungen,  Bd.  II,  Heft  1, 
1910. 


INTRODUCTION  13 

In  the  detailed  histories  of  specific  cases  which  fol- 
low my  general  discussion,  nearly  all  the  above  offenses 
are  represented.  Cases  have  been  selected  as  they 
portray  types  of  causal  experiences,  of  mental  content 
induced  by  these  experiences,  of  varieties  of  resultant 
misconduct,  and  sometimes  to  illustrate  other  features 
of  special  importance.  The  cases  are  placed  in  chap- 
ters, according  to  their  emphasis  of  some  particular 
point.  Since  the  general  elements  are  active  in  each 
instance,  much  overlapping  is  unavoidable;  cases  of 
stealing,  for  example,  are  depicted  in  other  chapters 
than  the  one  especially  devoted  to  stealing.  It  will 
be  readily  understood  that  space  for  our  very  long 
records  cannot  be  afforded,  since  it  seems  desirable 
to  give  a  considerable  variety  of  cases,  that  the  abridg- 
ments indulged  in  omit  the  details  of  the  actual  diffi- 
culties encountered  in  getting  at  the  conflicts,  that 
investigations  resulting  negatively  and  many  other 
minor  points  are  neglected,  that  personalities  and 
places  are  always  disguised  beyond  recognition.  Those 
9vho  wish  to  understand  the  subject  and  its  bearings 
are  invited  to  read  closely  this  most  informing  con- 
crete material. 

As  a  final  introductory  word,  I  would  suggest  that 
if  motives  and  impulses,  acting  recurrently  until  they 
signify  tendencies  and  careers,  arise  out  of  the  sub- 
conscious mental  life  of  the  individual,  the  fact  must 
imply  vastly  more  than  is  involved  in  the  discussion 
of  delinquency.  We  may  reasonably  at  once  think  of 
such  possible  origin  for  other  kinds  of  behavior,  for 
social  self-assertions,  for  the  pettier  unpleasant  atti- 
tudes and  frames  of  mind,  for  undefined  dissatisfac- 
tions and  social  dislikes.  Even  many  impulses  to 
good  behavior  and  to  select  desirable  paths  of  actions 


14  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

probably  arise  from  mechanisms  active  in  subconscious 
mental  life.  At  present  one  may  look  forward  to 
extremely  interesting  investigations  along  this  line, 
with  considerable  hint  of  possible  accretions  to  our 
knowledge  already  appearing  in  recent  literature  on 
human  motives  and  conduct.  At  least,  the  signifi- 
cance of  genetics  in  the  field  of  conduct  problems  is 
not  limited  to  behavior  of  a  special  group,  or  to  society's 
interest  in  delinquency  and  crime.  Broader  horizons 
dawn  for  the  student  of  origins  of  conduct-tendencies. 


CHAPTER   II 
GENERAL   PRINCIPLES 

Concrete  findings,  rather  than  theories,  have 
gradually  formed  the  framework  of  our  ideas  concern- 
ing the  relationship  of  mental  conflicts  to  misconduct. 
The  whole  conception  is  valuably  strengthened,  how- 
ever, by  formulation  of  such  generalizations  as  may 
be  rationally  evolved  from  our  collected  data.  Then, 
there  is  much  of  interest  in  reviewing  these  larger  con- 
siderations by  the  side  of  certain  psychological  de- 
ductions developed  through  analogous  work  in  other 
fields.  It  has  been  most  fortunate  for  our  investiga- 
tion that  in  the  last  decade  or  so  working  methods 
and  principles  of  dynamic  psj'chology  have  been 
established  which  are  especially  heli)ful  for  the  under- 
standing of  certain  causes  of  conduct  disorders. 

At  the  very  outset  of  any  setting  forth  of  principles, 
I  would  emphasize  the  most  fundamental  of  all  facts 
concerning  this  subject,  namely,  that  the  use  of  the 
genetic  method  opens  the  way,  as  nothing  else  does,  to 
the  most  formidable  attacks  upon  misconduct.  One 
might  expect  any  thoroughly  common-sense  method 
to  include  an  effort  to  go  back  to  beginnings  in  order 
to  arrive  at  understandings,  yes,  and  in  order  to  ac- 
complish reformations,  although  this  only  too  seldom 
accords    with    actual    practice.     But    through    results 

15 


16  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

actually  achieved  —  in  the  form  of  wider  explanatory 
vistas  gained  and  conduct-tendencies  altered  in  indi- 
vidual cases  —  there  need  be  no  mere  conjecture 
about  the  matter ;  we  discover  many  definite  evidences 
of  the  practical  utility  of  studying  causations. 

Another  main  consideration  is  that  we  find  our- 
selves here  working  in  the  field  of  dynamics.  It  is 
not  so  much  what  the  individual  is  structurally,  so  far 
as  the  mental  powers  are  measurable,  but  what  the 
mental  forces  may  be  that  are  at  work  creating  the 
undesirable  behavior.  As  I  have  often  maintained, 
there  is  much  to  be  gained  by  the  logical  procedure  of 
primarily  considering  conduct  as  the  direct  offspring 
of  mental  activity.  And  where  mental  conflicts  are 
involved,  the  study  of  dynamics  must  go  deeper  than 
usual ;  investigation  must  be  carried  out  that  shall 
reveal  niuch  more  than  superficial  facts  and  the 
obvious  workings  of  the  mind.  We  may,  perhaps, 
without  much  harm  to  the  situation,  neglect  the  men- 
tal forces  at  work  in  some  instances  of  misconduct,  but 
in  cases  of  tlie  type  now  under  consideration,  the  study 
of  mental  processes  affords  a  master-key  for  opening 
to  the  light  the  essentials  in  the  background. 

Then,  it  is  not  merely  the  fact  that  there  are  driving 
forces  of  the  inner  life  making  for  misconduct,  but  it 
is  a  matter  of  much  import  that  these  forces  prove  to 
be  so  powerful  and  are  so  persistently  recurrent.  Many 
of  our  cases  exhibit  the  most  remarkable  energy  of 
impulse  in  untoward  directions.  The  determining  fac- 
tor of  action  arises  and  recurs  with  a  show  of  strength 
all  out  of  proportion  to  any  readily  perceivable  source 
of  motive  power.  It  would  seem  as  if  this  feature 
alone  of  the  offender's  conduct  would  be  sufficient  to 
call  for  deep  reflection  and  analysis. 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  17 

Another  point  concerning  these  remarkable  cases 
has  heretofore  been  made  very  Httle  of,  so  Httle  that 
it  affords  complete  evidence  of  the  superficiality 
of  ordinary  appreciation  of  motives.  We  find  that 
some  misdoers  do  not,  in  their  misconduct,  appear  to  - 
be  in  the  least  carrying  out  their  keenest  desires.  Their  \/ 
actions  are  forced,  as  it  were,  by  something  in  them- 
selves, not  of  themselves.  If  we  judge  by  the  repeti- 
tion of  misdeeds  in  the  face  of  possible  punishment 
and  other  suffering,  we  might  suppose  that  these 
misdoers  were  impelled  by  their  very  strongest  con- 
scious wishes.  But  we  know  that  this  is  often  not  the 
case,  because  the  effect  of  the  conduct  in  question  is 
not  in  any  ordinary  sense  pleasurable  to  the  misdoers, 
nor  do  they  regard  it  as  such.  The  wrongdoing  is  not 
even  primarily  contemplated  as  likely  to  give  them 
high  satisfaction.  So  far  as  we  can  learn,  the  impulse 
arising  from  mental  conflict  has  no  penumbra  what- 
ever of  delightf ulness ;  on  the  contrary,  it  seems  as  if 
one  of  its  most  noteworthy  characteristics  is  the 
curious  absence  of  any  idea  of  pleasure  to  be  derived 
from  following  it.  We  have  heard  the  expression  from 
not  a  few  misdoers,  "I  don't  know  what  makes  me 
do  it.  I  don't  want  to  do  it,  and  I  feel  sorry  after- 
wards." It  would  seem  that  students  of  human  mo- 
tives should  long  since  have  been  attracted  to  this 
curious  phenomenon  of  conduct,  because,  results  not 
being  even  contemplated  as  pleasurable,  ordinary 
motives  are  not  plainly  involved. 

In  investigation  of  mental  conflicts  as  causes  of 
misconduct,  we  are  bound  to  contemplate  the  mental 
life  of  early  years,  not  because  of  a  priori  considerations, 
but  through  being  led  back,  step  by  step,  to  influences 
active  then.     We  sometimes  find  a  very  direct  route 


18  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

leading  from  emotion-provoking  experiences  and  re- 
actions of  childhood  to  even  major  offenses  of  adult 
life.  How  many  cases  there  may  be  where  the  causes 
date  back  to  childhood  with  intervening  years  free 
from  misdeeds,  it  will  need  further  development  of 
studies  of  this  subject  to  show.  From  our  observa- 
tions we  should  say  that  this  intermitting  type  of  evo- 
lution of  misconduct  will  seldom  be  encountered. 
As  far  as  examples  of  long-standing,  overt  tendency 
to  offense  are  concerned,  of  course  such  cases  must 
have  had  long-standing  causes. 

In  passing  from  these  prefatory  generalizations  to 
discussion  of  the  mechanisms  involved  when  mental 
conflicts  result  in  misconduct,  I  must  first  attempt 
some  clear  statement  of  certain  concepts,  deductions, 
and  terms  developed  in  closely  allied  fields.  While 
this  exposition  is  mainly  in  the  interest  of  the  general 
reader,  it  may  serve  to  show  professional  students  also 
how  far  our  practical  experience  tallies  with  the  de- 
ductions of  others,  and  in  what  measure  certain 
psychological  conceptions  may  be  utilized  in  studying 
misconduct. 

The  general  method  of  psychological  investigation 
with  which  we  are  now  concerned  has  been  much 
under  discussion  recently,  and  has  been  usually  spoken 
of  as  psychoanalysis  or  the  psychoanalytic  movement. 
These  terms  have  become  familiar  to  medical  men  and 
psychologists,  and  the  laity  has  now  heard  much  of 
their  purport,  but  still  we  are  doubtful  about  adopting 
them  for  our  uses.  The  terms  are  not  thoroughly 
serviceable  for  all  students  of  mental  mechanisms 
because  of  specific  connotations  which  have  been  given 
them.  We  find  that  followers  of  Sigmund  Freud,  the 
great  sponsor  of  the  psychoanalytic  movement,  rather 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  19 

object  to  application  of  the  word  psychoanalysis  to 
the  work  of  those  who  do  not  in  fairly  full  measure  fol- 
low the  theories  and  practices  of  the  master.  On  the 
other  hand,  some  of  us  who  are  not  complete  psycho- 
analysts in  that  sense,  do  not  wish  to  mislead  and 
make  it  appear  as  if  our  studies  implied  the  use  of  the 
fine  technic  of  interpretation  and  the  extremely  pro- 
longed mental  analyses  which  the  principal  exponents 
of  the  Freudian  school  deem  desirable  in  their  explo- 
ration of  the  neuroses.  Whether  or  not  practical 
results  are  obtainable  through  studies  of  misconduct 
by  less  thorough-going  analysis,  I  leave  the  reader 
to  judge  later  for  himself ;  just  here  the  point  is  that 
our  work  is  not  based  on  psychoanalysis  to  the  com- 
plete Freudian  extent.  It  seems  much  better  for  our 
purposes,  then,  to  follow  the  suggestion  of  Meyer 
Solomon,^  and  speak  of  mental  analysis  —  a  phrase 
that  can  be  "adopted  without  offense  to  anybody." 

For  a  clear  general  statement  of  the  method  of  mental 
analysis  I  can  do  no  better  than  cite  from  an  expert 
analyst.  Doctor  Putnam :  ^  "The  psychoanalytic 
method  is  the  name  given  to  the  special  means  by 
which  the  memory  is  aided  to  penetrate  into  the  for- 
gotten portions  of  one's  life,  with  the  view  of  bringing 
to  the  light  of  clear  consciousness  the  details  of  emo- 
tional conflicts  which,  in  spite  of  being  out  of  sight, 
exert  an  influence,  often  of  an  unfavorable  sort,  on 
the  development  of  character  and  temperament,  as 
well  as  on  the  motives,  the  habits,  and  the  thoughts." 
Though  this  definition  is  admirably  stated,  for  our  ends 
we  might  paraphrase  the  first  part  of  it  and  state  that : 

*  Meyer  Solomon,  "On  the  Use  of  the  Term  Psyclioanalj'sis  and  Its 
Substitute."     Medical  Record,  New  York,  September  18,  1915. 

*  James  Jackson  Putnam,  M.D.,  "Human  Motives",  p.  68. 


20  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

Mental  analysis  is  a  name  given  to  the  method  of 
using  the  memory  to  penetrate  into  the  former  experi- 
ences of  mental  life. 

It  is  of  great  significance  for  understanding  or  under- 
taking our  type  of  work  with  offenders  that  the  use 
of  artificial  devices  to  aid  the  memory,  at  least  in 
most  instances,  appears  quite  unnecessary.  To  be 
sure,  nearly  all  the  cases  of  mental  conflict  we  have 
studied  are  purposely  those  of  decidedly  young  people 
in  whom  the  memories  of  the  early  unfortunate  expe- 
riences are  much  fresher ;  there  has  been  with  them 
less  to  obliterate  the  outlines  of  the  original  stirring 
event  or  emotion.  Then,  no  doubt,  the  retracing  pro- 
cess in  misconduct  cases  is  much  simpler  and  more 
direct  than  in  cases  of  functional  nervous  disease, 
with  which  the  psychoanalysts  have  busied  them- 
selves. It  is  rarely  necessary  to  dig  up  "a  long  series 
of  events  related  to  each  other  by  ties  of  the  most 
varied  sorts",  or  to  encourage  the  memory,  as  Putnam 
adds,  "to  go  on  a  voyage  of  discovery  without  refer- 
ence to  what  may  be  discovered." 

If  one  were  working  with  older  misdoers,  probably 
the  genetic  search  would  have  to  be  much  more  pro- 
longed and  intricate,  and  much  more  that  was  irrele- 
vant would  have  to  be  dug  up  for  examination.  I 
say  probably,  because  we  cannot  safely  state  this 
from  our  own  experience  nor  from  data  acquired  by 
others.  Practically  nothing  has  been  written  on  this 
point,  and  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  efforts  with 
old  offenders  are  not  particularly  promising  on  ac- 
count of  the  many  deteriorations,  mental,  physical, 
and  social,  which  usually  accompany  a  prolonged 
career  of  delinquency.  Here,  as  in  other  aspects  of 
clinical  criminology,  much  the  best  returns,  scientific 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  21 

as  well  as  redemptory,  are  to  be  obtained  through 
working  with  misdoers  at  a  time  not  far  from  the 
beginnings  of  their  misbehavior. 

As  suggested  above,  it  appears  more  than  likely 
that  the  pathway  from  mental  conflict  to  misconduct 
is  straighter  than  are  the  steps  between  mental  con- 
flict and  nervous  disorders.  It  is  emphasized  by 
many  analysts  working  in  the  latter  field  that  they 
discover  mental  processes  pursuing  their  activities 
through  the  most  remarkable  transformations  and 
by  way  of  shuntings  off  and  circuitous  paths.  In  their 
cases,  the  seizing  hold  by  the  subconscious  mind  of 
some  particular  association  of  environmental  or  men- 
tal experience  and  attaching  it  strongly  to  the  original 
emotion-producing  event  in  a  way  that  makes  for 
abnormal  manifestations  in  body  or  mind,  is  not  nearly 
so  direct  or  understandable  a  phenomenon  as  what 
occurs  in  the  cases  of  misconduct  that  I  cite.  It 
appears  to  be  a  much  farther  cry  from  a  neurosis 
than  from  delinquency  to  genesis  in  mental  conflict. 
The  technical  studies  of  the  various  mental  reactions, 
the  knowledge  of  which  the  analysts,  particularly  the 
Freudians,  have  given  to  the  world,  appear  not  nearly 
so  essential  to  the  student  of  misbehavior.  I  have 
little  doubt  that  there  is  more  to  this  whole  subject 
of  the  relationship  of  mental  conflict  to  misconduct 
than  we  have  developed  while  attempting  during  these 
years  to  base  our  investigations  on  thoroughly  firm 
ground.  I  see  the  human  mind  as  too  complex  an 
organ  for  me  to  suppose  that  in  these  comparatively 
simple  phrasings  of  mental  analysis  all  is  explained. 
Following  this  effort  to  clear  a  way,  there  should  be 
deeper  explorations  in  various  important  regions  where 
mental  life  and  social  conduct  are  interrelated. 


22  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

The  great  desideratum  in  all  work  of  this  sort  is  to 
bring  "to  the  light  of  clear  consciousness  the  details 
of  emotional  conflicts  which,  in  spite  of  being  out  of 
sight,  exert  an  influence."  Whatever  the  victim's 
troubles,  whatever  the  special  technic  employed,  ex- 
ploration is  the  aim  of  mental  analysis.  What  there  is 
further  to  be  said  in  exposition  of  the  mental  mecha- 
nisms pertaining  to  our  subject  is  all  by  way  of  filhng 
in  the  outlines  of  the  main  conception  or  fact. 

We  may  now  go  on  to  consider  some  of  these  mecha- 
nisms. The  term  mental  conflict  represents  an  idea  that 
is  not  at  all  difficult  to  understand.  Few  would  ques- 
tion the  existence  of  such  a  phenomenon.  Technical 
discussion  hardly  makes  the  concept  any  stronger, 
and,  yet,  perhaps  some  attempt  at  definition  is  desir- 
able in  order  that  there  may  be  no  misunderstanding 
whatever  about  what  is  meant.  A  mental  conflict, 
then,  is  a  conflict  between  elements  of  mental  life,  and 
occurs  when  two  elements,  or  systems  of  elements,  are 
out  of  harmony  with  each  other.  This  is  the  barest 
possible  statement.  Why  do  mental  elements  in  the 
same  individual  become  conflicting.?  This  question 
leads  us,  in  turn,  to  consider  other  mental  mechanisms. 

Memories  or  ideational  elements  forming  the  con- 
tent of  our  mental  storehouses  are  largely  constellated ; 
on  account  of  the  activity  of  various  laws  of  association 
mental  elements  are  so  related  to  each  other  that  there 
is  a  bond  between  them.  The  particular  form  of  a 
constellation  is  the  result  of  the  special  grouping  or 
linking  together  of  perceptive  experiences  or  of  their 
reproductions  as  they  arise  in  the  mind.  A  constel- 
lation of  ideas  is  thus  a  system  of  mental  elements 
having  some  special  relationship  of  the  elements  to 
each  other. 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  23 

We  must  next  consider  the  complex,  the  theory  of 
which  is  at  the  heart  of  the  psychoanalytic  method ; 
this  according  to  our  own  findings  in  mental  analy- 
sis represents  a  vitally  important  subject.  Various 
authors  have  sketched  their  conceptions  of  a  mental 
complex,  particularly  as  they  have  taken  or  modified 
the  idea  from  Freud,  who  develops  such  an  extensive 
psychological  superstructure  upon  this  foundation. 
(There  is  no  doubt  that  the  concept  of  a  mental  com- 
plex existed  long  before  Freud's  day,  albeit  with  little 
consideration  of  the  phenomenon  and  no  attention  to 
practical  applications.)  We  may  gather  from  all 
these  writers  that  a  complex  is  a  constellation  of  men- 
tal elements  permeated  with  a  vigorous  emotional 
tone,  a  system  or  association  of  ideas  grouped  about 
an  emotional  core  or  center.  The  existence  of  such 
peculiarly  disposed  constellated  systems  no  one  can 
doubt ;  how  important  they  are  for  us  as  students  of 
misconduct  will  appear  many  times  to  our  readers. 

The  complex  has  other  essential  characteristics. 
Being  possessed  of  an  emotional  tone  it  has  energy- 
producing  powers ;  by  reason  of  this  it  may  be,  and 
often  is,  a  great  determiner  of  thoughts  and  actions. 
This  is  merely  following  the  general  law  that  emotion- 
tinged  portions  of  the  mental  content  are  the  dynamic 
elements  of  mental  life.  And  it  also  appears  that  only 
parts  of  complexes  active  as  producers  of  behavior 
appear  in  consciousness.  This  is  proved  by  the  fact 
that  a  very  distinct  effort  or  exploration  is  necessary 
to  bring  any  such  entire  system  of  ideas  into  view. 

Discovery  that  portions  of  an  active  complex  are 
left  in  the  mental  background  as  subconscious  led 
to  study  of  the  phenomenon  known  as  repression. 
When  a  mental  experience,  or  group  of  thoughts  with 


24  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

an  emotional  tone,  or  part  of  such  a  constellated 
system  of  ideas,  is  pushed  back,  "put  out  of  mind", 
*' forgotten",  it  is  said  to  be  repressed.  This  seeking 
oblivion  for  an  experience  may  be  more  or  less  of  an 
automatic,  hardly  conscious  reaction,  perhaps  directly 
dictated  by  naturally  falling  in  line  with  social  con- 
formities, either  family  or  general,  or  it  may  be  a 
thoroughly  deliberate  attempt  to  get  rid  of  something 
conceived  as  undesirable. 

Here  we  are  brought  sharply  up  against  the  question 
of  whether  there  can  be  any  real  "forgetting"  and 
"putting  out  of  mind."  Above  all,  we  know  that 
anything  once  experienced  as  mental  content  is  sub- 
ject to  being  stored.  And  it  is  a  matter  of  everyday 
knowledge  that  the  storage  places  of  the  mind  con- 
tain many  things  that  the  conscious  self  is  not  aware 
of,  either  in  detail  or  as  being  stored.  No  one  has 
had  a  keener  insight  into  the  nature  and  importance 
of  memory  processes  than  the  philosopher  Bergson, 
and  our  own  appreciation  of  this  side  of  mental  life 
may  well  be  served  by  quoting  from  him  a  paragraph  ^ 
that  must  have  caught  the  eye  of  many  students  of 
mental  analysis.  Speaking  of  memory  he  says,  "And 
as  the  past  grows  without  ceasing,  so  also  there  is  no 
limit  to  its  preservation.  ...  In  reality,  the  past  is 
preserved  by  itself  automatically.  In  its  entirety, 
probably,  it  follows  us  every  instant ;  all  that  we  have 
felt,  thought,  and  willed  from  our  earliest  infancy  is 
there,  leaning  over  the  present  which  is  about  to  join 
it,  pressing  against  the  portals  of  consciousness  that 
would  fain  leave  it  outside.  The  cerebral  mechanism 
is  arranged  just  so  as  to  drive  back  into  the  unconscious 

1  Henri  Bergson,  "Creative  Evolution",  p.  4;  translated  by  Arthur 
Mitchell,  1911. 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  25 

almost  the  whole  of  this  past,  and  to  admit  beyond  the 
threshold  only  that  which  can  cast  light  on  the  present 
situation  or  further  the  action  now  being  prepared. 
.  .  .  Doubtless  we  think  with  only  a  small  part  of 
our  past,  but  it  is  with  our  entire  past,  including  the 
original  bent  of  our  soul,  that  we  desire,  will,  and  act. 
Our  past,  then,  as  a  whole  is  made  manifest  to  us  in 
its  impulse;  it  is  felt  in  the  form  of  tendency,  al- 
though a  small  part  of  it  only  is  known  in  the  form  of 
idea."  From  these  words  we  get  a  picture  of  mental 
life  that  is  peculiarly  valuable  as  a  background  upon 
which  some  fundamental  conceptions  of  mental  anal- 
ysis in  relation  to  misconduct  may  be  developed. 

The  analysts  all  insist  from  their  explorations  of 
mental  content  that  repression  does  not  signify  kill- 
ing off  the  undesirable  portion  of  mental  content. 
Indeed,  the  word  repression,  so  far  as  the  complex 
is  concerned,  has  come  to  mean  merely  the  splitting 
off  from  consciousness  of  part  of  what  would  naturally, 
through  the  original  bond  of  association  or  constella- 
tion, be  represented  in  its  entirety  in  consciousness. 
Repression  is  a  form  of  mental  dissociation,  —  a  term 
used  long  before  the  present  development  of  the  sci- 
ence of  mental  analysis.  The  conscious  mind  chooses 
for  its  own  reasons  to  consider  some  undesired  portion 
of  a  complex  as  forgotten,  but,  unfortunately,  the 
process  of  forcing  it  "out  of  mind"  does  not  lead  to 
quiescent  assimilation  of  it  with  more  normal  material 
of  prior  experiences,  assimilation  into  the  great  organ- 
ization which  we  call  the  subconscious  mind.  The 
dissociated  portion  is  left  with  its  original  emotional 
tone  still  attached,  and  through  this  fact  anything 
but  quiescence  may  ensue.  As  the  psychoanalysts 
have  put  it,  a  complex  dissociated  by  repression  con- 


26  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

tinues  to  have  its  own  existence  as  a  separate  unas- 
similated  entity  and  to  be  possessed  of  special  energy. 
Repression,  then,  does  not  imply  suspension  of  activ- 
ity. Clear  exemplifications  of  the  truth  of  this  are  to 
be  perceived  in  many  of  our  case-histories. 

The  term  mental  infantilism,  often  applied  by 
psychoanalysts  to  the  type  of  reactions  which  produce 
neurotic  symptoms,  appears  to  have  special  signifi- 
cance for  us.  If  it  is  an  infantile  reaction  to  attempt 
to  dispose  of  an  idea  by  repressing  it  and  at  the  same 
time  to  keep  it  alive  by  getting  some  satisfaction  for 
the  instinctive  demand  which  it  connotes,  then  surely 
our  cases  demonstrate  mechanisms  of  this  earliest 
psychological  type.  Instead  of  a  mature  facing  of 
reality  we  discover  these  curious  compromises  where 
some  delinquency  is  indulged  in  as  an  expression  of  the 
existence  of  a  complex ;  the  main  elements  of  the  com- 
plex are  not  expressed  because  they  do  not  harmonize 
with  the  individual's  conceptions  of  personal  or  social 
morality. 

Subconscious  mental  life,  which  is  one  of  the  main 
concerns  of  dynamic  psychology,  although  hardly 
mentioned  by  name  in  many  textbooks  of  psychology, 
requires  from  us  some  discussion  concerning  certain 
points  of  special  import.  (I  hold  no  brief  for  the  term 
subconscious  as  opposed  to  or  distinct  from  the  meaning 
of  the  word  unconscious,  which  is  sometimes  used  in 
this  connection,  but  it  does  seem  more  serviceable, 
since  the  latter,  as  applied  to  mental  processes,  seems 
to  offer  a  contradiction  in  terms.  As  might  be  ex- 
pected in  a  newly  developing  science,  words  have 
been  utilized  that  have  meanings  attached  not  alto- 
gether suitable  for  subsequent  finer  discriminations.) 
The  subconscious  part  of  the  mind  may  be  defined 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  27 

in  its  widest  significance  as  that  portion  of  mental  life 
which,  at  least  for  the  time  being,  is  outside  the  gen- 
eral field  of  attention.  Of  course,  the  only  proof  of 
the  existence  of  this  background  of  mind  material  is 
the  fact  that  on  occasion  portions  of  it  are  presented 
above  the  threshold  of  consciousness,  namely,  in  the 
field  of  attention.  Now,  part  of  what  is  subconscious 
may  be  voluntarily  recalled,  with  small  or  with  greater 
difficulty.  Some  of  it  only  makes  itself  known  by 
involuntarily  flashing  or  jumping  into  consciousness. 
Still  other  portions,  in  order  to  get  above  the  thresh- 
old of  conscious  thought,  need  the  use  of  artifices, 
such  as  hypnotism,  hypnoidal  states,  or  the  free  asso- 
ciation methods,  or  require  directive  insistence  on 
closely  tracing  associations  for  special  memories. 
That  an  enormous  number  of  past  experiences  cannot 
be  voluntarily  remembered  is  undoubtedly  true.  In 
the  storehouse  of  the  subconscious  mind  some  of  the 
material  is  near  the  portals  of  easy  exit,  some  material 
is  far  off  in  dark  nooks  and  crannies,  far  from  the 
doorway  and  the  light  of  conscious  thought. 

Particularly  well  conserved  in  subconsciousness, 
as  I  have  already  stated,  are  mental  experiences  or 
groups  of  mental  elements  which  were  stored  away 
accompanied  by  a  strong  emotional  tone.  This  is  a 
matter  of  common-sense  observation  with  all  of  us. 
These  special  constellations  are  peculiarly  the  ones  of 
which  parts  flash  up  into  the  field  of  attention,  and 
which  cause  substitutive  reactions  of  various  sorts. 
The  most  virile  of  these  complexes  are  those  in  which 
the  original  emotion  or  "affect"  was  powerfully  re- 
pressed, totally  unreacted  to,  strangulated.  The 
strength  of  a  complex  as  a  producer  of  unusual  and 
abnormal  mental,  physical,  or  social  behavior  is  not 


28  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

measured  by  the  length  of  time  since  it  was  repressed. 
Neither  is  its  force  to  be  judged  by  the  fact  of  easy 
recognition  or  of  complete  disguise  of  any  part  which 
appears  at  the  surface  of  consciousness,  nor  by  the 
comparative  difficulties  experienced  in  pulling  the 
complex  up  to  the  surface  to  be  seen  and  known  for 
what  it  is. 

Variations  in  the  difficulty  of  this  task  of  getting  at 
and  exploring  the  real  nature  of  a  complex  are  un- 
doubtedly due  to  a  number  of  differing  conditions. 
Among  other  things  there  are  the  innate  traits  of  the 
individual,  the  reaction  tendencies  acquired  through 
environmental  and  educational  circumstances,  the 
force  of  the  original  emotion  belonging  to  the  complex 
(sometimes  amounting  to  an  emotional  shock  or  a 
psychic  trauma),  the  possibly  continued  repressive 
activities  exerted  against  any  attempt  at  exploration. 
This  last  is  termed  resistance. 

The  peculiar  energy  belonging  to  some  complexes 
calls  forth  frequently  renewed  efforts  at  repression. 
In  such  instances  the  repressed  ideas  are  of  a  nature 
incompatible  with  the  trend  of  personal  consciousness, 
and  conscious  reaction  is  therefore  not  permitted. 
In  describing  this  mechanism,  Freud  speaks  of  the 
activities  of  a  mental  censor  watching  over  certain 
elements  of  complexes  and  preventing  them  from  be- 
coming associated  with  those  in  consciousness.  But 
more  than  this,  there  is  the  important  phenomenon 
which  shows  itself  during  professional  mental  analysis, 
namely,  resistance.  To  comport  with  special  desires 
and  ends  of  the  personality,  there  may  be  resistance 
against  any  attempt  to  bring  certain  complexes  to  the 
light.  Many  of  the  reasons  for  this  resistance  are 
peculiar  to  the  individual  and  to  the  situation.     Just 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  29 

as  analysts  in  exploring  the  psychopathology  of  func- 
tional nervous  and  mental  disorders,  so  we  in  our  work 
with  cases  of  misconduct  sometimes  observe  this 
phenomenon  of  resistance  most  distinctly. 

Any  thinking  person  can  readily  conceive  the  lead- 
ing cause  of  mental  complexes  and  of  repressions  and 
resistances.  All  of  these  mechanisms  depend  for  their 
existence  upon  feelings  or  emotions,  and  what  is  there 
to  compare  to  various  phases  of  sex  life  and  to  sex 
ideas  as  producers  of  emotion?  And  then,  in  strange 
contradiction  to  this  is  the  opposition  which  the  per- 
son finds,  through  social  customs  and  taboos,  to  any 
expression  of  what  may  have  been  experienced  and 
inwardly  felt  with  such  intensity.  Thus,  from  an 
a  priori  standpoint,  we  shall  see  no  cause  for  wonder  if 
a  great  deal  of  emotion  is  found  attached  to  repressed 
constellations  of  mental  elements  which  center  about 
sex  experiences  and  ideas.  Many  objections  have 
been  raised  to  the  work  of  the  psychoanalysts  because 
it  deals  so  intensively  with  sex  material.  I  am  not 
at  all  inclined  to  defend  these  students  on  all  issues 
which  can  be  raised,  but  no  doubt  our  own  findings 
could  be  used  by  them  in  support  of  many  of  the  posi- 
tions which  they  take  concerning  this  matter.  We 
ourselves  have  been  utterly  surprised  at  the  develop- 
ment of  so  much  delinquency  of  various  sorts  from 
beginnings  in  unfortunate  sex  knowledge  which  has 
come  into  the  mental  field  as  a  psychic  shock,  produc- 
ing emotional  disturbance.  To  be  sure,  we  have  heard 
some  widely  experienced,  intelligent  observers  of  delin- 
quents, knowing  nothing  of  mental  analysis,  state  that 
they  consider  sex  affairs  to  be  at  the  root  of  a  tremen- 
dous number  of  criminalistic  impulses,  but  yet  the 
direct  connection  and  the  clearness  with  which  the 


30  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

mental  mechanisms  may  be  observed  in  these  cases 
has  been  a  constant  source  of  wonderment  to  us. 

One  of  the  great  contributions  of  the  psychoanalysts 
has  been  that  they  have  discovered  the  very  early 
roots  of  sexual  life  in  the  individual.  They  have 
proved  that  in  childhood,  even  in  early  childhood, 
there  is  mental  life,  exhibited  perhaps  as  instinct  or 
imagery  or  idea,  centering  about  sexual  components. 
Not  that  this  school  of  psychology  is  alone  in  this  dis- 
covery ;  a  number  of  other  thorough  investigators, 
for  example,  Moll,^  have  made  similar  observations. 
If,  then,  we  find  the  development  of  sexual  complexes 
and  repressions  years  before  the  advent  of  puberty, 
we  need  not  be  astonished.  That  there  are  many 
social  as  well  as  psychological  implications  in  this 
fact  goes  without  saying. 

Analysts,  in  studying  the  causes  of  functional  bodily 
disorders,  have  discovered  the  process  which  has  been 
termed  conversion.  This  is  the  mechanism  of  convert- 
ing a  mental  phenomenon  into  a  physical  manifesta- 
tion. As  some  analysts  put  it,  certain  physical 
symptoms  are  produced  by  liberating  from  a  mental 
complex  emotional  energy  which  then  innervates 
abnormal  neural  pathways.  This  changing  over  of 
energy  from  restrained  and  hidden  to  active  and  overt 
manifestations  is  analogous  to  what  we  observe  when 
mental  conflict  finds  expression  in  misconduct. 

Other  mechanisms,  less  traceable  in  physical  as- 
pects, have  been  discovered  which  offer  even  closer 
resemblance  to  the  nature  of  our  own  findings  and 
interpretations.  There  is  substitution;  this  may  be  de- 
fined as  what  occurs  when  emotional  energy,  escaped 

1  Albert  Moll,  "Das  Sexualleben  des  Kindes ",  Berlin,  1908.  Also 
translation  by  Eden  Paul,  "The  Sexual  Life  of  the  Child  ".  New  York,  1913. 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  31 

from  the  repressed  parts  of  a  constellation,  becomes 
attached  to  associated,  but  not  unbearable  and,  con- 
sequently, not  necessarily  repressed  elements.  The 
usefulness  of  this  conception  will  appeal  strongly  to 
all  readers  of  our  own  case-histories.  Another  term 
much  used  is  abreaction  —  signifying  the  general  phe- 
nomenon of  liberation  of  energy  belonging  to  a  com- 
plex, a  working-off  of  the  latent,  stored-up  emotional 
force.  When  this  occurs,  activity  takes  place  along 
paths  of  less  resistance  than  those  through  which  the 
complex  has  been  repressed.  (Of  course,  abreaction 
would  also  include  fulfillment  of  the  whole  trend  of 
desire  of  the  complex.)  It  will  gradually  appear  that 
several  features  of  the  theory  of  abreaction  have  their 
significance  for  our  studies  of  misconduct. 

Some  of  the  larger  conceptions  of  mental  life  as 
developed  by  analysts  are  of  considerable  interest  to 
us  here.  It  is  one  of  the  theories  concerning  the  sub- 
conscious mind  that  no  psychical  energy  which  enters 
this  realm  is  ever  lost.  Conservation  of  energy  takes 
place  here  as  in  the  world  of  matter.  If,  then,  an 
experience  is  thrust  back  into  this  storage  place  with 
a  strong  emotional  tone  attached  to  it,  this  means  that 
the  experience  or  complex  may  remain  below  the  thresh- 
old of  conscious  attention,  but  exists  there  with  a 
capacity  for  releasing  energy  and  creating  much  dis- 
turbance. Another  conception,  in  like  manner,  spec- 
ifies the  fact  of  transformation  of  energy  in  the  world 
of  mental  processes.  Stoddart  compares  psychical  to 
physical  energy  and  speaks  much  of  the  driving  force 
of  mental  life.  Jung  has  offered  the  name  horme 
to  apply  to  the  energizing  principle  in  mental  life. 
Stoddart  suggests  that  if  a  certain  amount  of  horme 
or  psychical  energy,  once  known  to  exist,  appears  to 


32  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

be  lost,  it  may  be  just  the  business  of  the  analyst  to 
find  out  what  has  become  of  it.  In  our  own  field  we 
readily  see  the  value  of  following  the  long  effects,  even 
over  periods  of  apparent  discontinuance,  of  some 
previously  evoked  emotional  experience.  The  his- 
tories which  are  here  related  show  certain  types  of 
experience  as  highly  provocative  of  emotion  and 
inner  urge,  with  fixation  of  the  energy  on  some  por- 
tion of  mental  life  which,  in  our  cases,  is  directly 
responsible  for  the  production  of  misconduct. 

Another  main  theory  is  concerned  with  determinism 
in  mental  life.  Influencing  the  nature  of  every  thought 
there  is  some  past  idea  linked  to  it  by  the  laws  of 
association ;  for  every  impulse  there  is  an  immediate 
cause  in  some  phase  of  present  mental  activity,  as 
well  as  a  preceding  cause  in  mental  experiences  far- 
ther back.  No  impulse  to  action  is  to  be  regarded 
as  a  meaningless  phenomenon,  it  is  always  determined 
by  foregoing  elements  of  mental  life;  even  no  idea  or 
image  can  spring  up  without  relation  to  the  past. 
Without  stating  this  theory  at  any  greater  length,  I 
may  say  at  once  that  determinism  in  mental  processes 
is  the  backbone  of  the  psychoanalytic  method.  Now, 
whatever  may  be  urged  against  the  extremes  of  this 
conception  of  psychical  laws,  exhibited,  for  instance, 
in  sanguine  attempts  to  find  reason  in  the  gibberings 
of  dementia  or  the  railings  of  mania,  the  fact  is  that 
mental  analysis  has  proved  most  clearly  the  existence 
of  a  vast  amount  of  determinism  that  was  not  known 
heretofore.  For  our  studies  of  misconduct,  these 
determining  factors  in  mental  life,  so  frequently  not 
realized  in  the  least,  even  by  the  agent  actively  pro- 
ducing their  effects,  prove  to  be  of  vast  importance. 

A  number  of  mental  mechanisms  other  than  those 


GENERAL  PRINCIPLES  33 

considered  above  have  been  enumerated  by  the  ex- 
ponents of  psychoanalysis ;  most  of  these  are  of  com- 
paratively slight  interest  to  us  here  and  will  not  be 
discussed,  but  certain  of  them  represent  mental  pro- 
cesses which  are  of  great  importance  for  the  possibil- 
ities of  treatment  of  tendencies  to  misconduct.  These, 
together  with  several  points  concerning  practical  ap- 
plications and  methods  of  mental  analysis  in  our  field, 
will  be  taken  up  in  the  next  chapters. 


CHAPTER  III 

APPLICATIONS 

The  practical  application  of  mental  analysis  to 
problems  of  moral  reconstruction  properly  forms  the 
center  of  our  discussion.  It  was  in  order  to  reach  this 
central  point  by  rational,  explanatory  steps  that  we 
found  it  necessary  to  take  some  account  of  certain 
theoretical  conceptions  developed  as  fundamentals  of 
psychoanalysis.  A  direct  answer  to  the  reasonable 
interrogation,  Cui  bono?  concerning  mental  analysis 
as  applied  to  conduct  problems  is  given  through  our 
case-histories,  which  clearly  demonstrate  valuable 
understandings  gained  and  delinquent  tendencies 
altered  by  use  of  this  method.  Still  further  inquiries 
are  naturally  concerned  with  peculiarities  of  the  mental 
processes  implicated  in  the  conflicts  that  cause  mis- 
conduct and  with  details  of  the  procedure  that  offers 
most  chance  of  achieving  the  desired  reformation. 

The  first  suggestion  of  the  value  of  mental  analysis 
in  the  problems  of  misconduct  should  come  through 
considering  one  of  the  main  laws  of  mind,  namely, 
that  the  direction  and  content  of  every  mental  activity 
stands  in  definite  relationship  to  previously  active 
elements  of  mental  life.  Of  course,  no  intelligent 
person  could  believe  for  a  moment  that  ideas  of  mis- 
conduct, or  even  impulses  thereto,  arise  by  chance. 

34 


APPLICATIONS  35 

The  constitution  of  every  idea  and  impulse  is  largely 
predetermined  by  antecedent  ideas  and  images.  Every 
thought  arises  as  a  link  in  a  chain  of  mental  associations 
joined  together  by  various  psychological  conditionings. 
Misconduct  as  a  reaction  to  stimuli  received  from  the 
outer  world  —  stealing,  for  instance,  of  objects  tempt- 
ingly displayed  —  may  seem  so  obviously  explicable 
that  the  observer  neglects  to  look  for  other  causal 
considerations.  But  when  the  impulse  to  misconduct 
arises  from  an  internal  stimulus  and,  particularly,  when 
individuals  subject  to  such  impulses  may  be  found 
vividly  conscious  of  struggle  against  them,  the  phenome- 
non is  most  striking,  and  the  behavior  appears  inex- 
plicable by  any  of  the  ordinary  conceptions  of  objective 
causation.  And  as  for  inner  stimuli  and  their  origin, 
it  seems  nothing  short  of  amazing  that  scientific  studies 
have  not  long  since  been  directed  towards  ascertain- 
ment of  what  these  may  be. 

While  there  has  been  no  general  application  of  mental 
analysis  to  the  study  of  delinquency,  there  has  been 
gradual  appreciation  of  the  wide  bearings  of  the  method, 
both  by  the  specialists  who  use  it  in  treatment  of  the 
psychoneuroses  and  by  a  few  others  who  have  recog- 
nized it  as  a  method  which  reveals  important  facts  of 
mental  life.^  Mental  conflicts  certainly  must  react 
in  many  other  ways  than  by  setting  up  the  abnormal 

1  For  readers  of  English  we  may  cite  here,  as  showing  something  of  the 
broader  aspects  of  mental  analysis,  "  Mental  Mechanisms ",  by  W.  A. 
White,  1911;  "Human  Motives",  by  J.  J.  Putnam,  1915;  "The  Freudian 
Methods  Applied  to  Anger",  an  article  by  Stanley  Hall,  American  Journal 
of  Psychology,  July,  1915;  "The  Freudian  Wish",  by  E.  B.  Holt,  1915; 
"Psychoanalysis  and  the  Study  of  Children",  an  article  by  O.  Pfisler, 
American  Journal  of  Psychology,  1915,  p.  130;  "Psychopathology  of  Every 
Day  Life",  by  Freud,  and  "Psychology  of  the  Unconscious",  by  Jung  — 
both  of  the  latter  recently  translated.  Then,  lately  has  appeared  "  Mech- 
anisms of  Character  Formation",  by  W.  A.  WTiite. 


36  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

manifestations  which  the  neurologist  is  called  upon  to 
treat.  There  have  been  a  number  of  definite  sugges- 
tions by  analysts  that  mental  analysis  might  prove 
particularly  valuable  for  students  of  criminalistic 
behavior,  but  no  account  of  systematic  work  in  this 
direction  has  appeared  ^  and  there  has  been  no  publi- 
cation heretofore  of  any  considerable  number  of  mis- 
conduct cases  originating  from  mental  conflict. 

Interpretations  and  technical  considerations  in  the 
field  of  psychoanalysis  have  already  gone  far,  and  to 
what  extent  these  —  many  of  which  we  have  not  in  the 
least  touched  on  —  may  be  at  all  useful  in  treatment 
of  misconduct  remains  for  the  future  to  determine. 
(I  desire  here  to  state  that  I  am  far  from  believing 
that  our  studies  have  explored  the  deepest  mechanisms 
conceivably  at  the  roots  of  misconduct,  even  though 
what  we  have  discovered  has  proved  to  be  so  practically 
important  for  understanding  and  treatment.)  At 
present,  however,  it  is  clear  that  mental  conflict  does 
often  stand  in  causal  relationship  to  misconduct  and 
that  this  vital  fact  may  be  brought  out  by  even  a 
moderate  amount  of  analysis  and,  in  general,  is  under- 
standable when  discussed  in  nontechnical  terms. 
Beginning  with  these  main  points  we  may  pass  on  to 
the  special  features  of  applying  this  method. 

The  symptoms  of  certain  functional  maladies  of  the 
nervous  system  are  strikingly  allied  to  definitive  mis- 
conduct. In  a  case  of  hysterical  paralysis,  for  instance, 
the  picture  closely  resembles  an  exhibition  of  obstinate 
self-will;  it  is  the  assumption  of  an  attitude  directed 
against  and  actually  conflicting  with  normal  environ- 

^  Oskar  Pfister,  in  his  book  "Die  psychanalytische  Methode  ",  Leipzig, 
1913,  insists  on  the  importance  of  mental  analysis  for  treatment  of  mis- 
behavior, but  gives  only  a  few  minor  cases  at  no  great  length. 


APPLICATIONS  37 

mental  demands.  The  extreme  troublesomeness  of 
psychoneurotic  cases  in  family  life,  or  even  in  courts  of 
civil  law,  indicates  that  they  may  be  partly  considered 
problems  of  conduct.  Certainly  the  background  of 
the  mental  and  social  attitude  of  the  individual  is 
properly  a  matter  of  study  in  both  types  of  cases  — 
those  where  the  abnormality  is  termed  misconduct  and 
those  where  peculiar  behavior  is  regarded  merely  as 
evidence  of  a  psychoneurosis.  Indeed,  the  develop- 
ment of  some  peculiar  and  abnormal  attitude  towards 
family  relationships  or  the  world  in  general  sometimes 
is  directly  responsible  for  misconduct  exhibited  in 
many  forms.  We  have  seen  numerous  examples  of 
offenders  holding  such  a  definite  attitude  or  grudge, 
which  has  often  been  formed  at  a  surprisingly  early 
age.  I  may  refer  to  our  case-histories  for  details. 
It  seems  reasonable  to  conclude  from  this  general  fact 
that  analytic  studies  of  mental  attitude  and  of  grudge 
formation  might  be  widely  undertaken  with  much 
promise  of  helpfulness  to  both  those  who  are  actively 
and  those  who  are  passively  concerned.  Even  where 
no  actual  criminalistic  conduct  is  engaged  in,  the 
faulty  attitude  may  give  rise  to  great  irritability  and 
may  produce  much  unhappiness  for  others.  Do  we 
not  know  men  and  women  whose  main  trends  of  be- 
havior show  almost  vindictiveness  towards  their 
fellow-beings,  and  this  without  any  cause  whatever 
except  their  own  inner  set  of  mind  ?  Entirely  appli- 
cable to  our  study  of  general  tendencies  of  conduct  is 
investigation  of  what  in  the  inner  mental  life  gives  rise 
to  attitudes  which  are  factors  at  the  base  of  such 
tendencies. 

Preceding  any  attempt  at  explanation  of  the  general 
fact  of  disordered  behavior,  even  in  a  particular  in- 

4GG35 


38  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

stance,  Freud  maintains  that  there  must  be  inquiry 
into  the  origin  of  the  specific  form  of  disorder  displayed. 
It  is  best  not  to  take  up  first  the  question,  for  example, 
of  why  this  given  individual  suffers  from  a  neurosis, 
but  why  does  this  special  type  of  neurosis  appear.  For 
answering  all  aspects  of  the  problem  in  any  case,  Freud 
maintains  that  it  must  be  known  both  what  the  patient 
brings  to  the  situation  by  way  of  innate  traits,  and  how 
special  mental  experiences  have  been  effective.  The 
value  of  these  points  for  our  method  is  very  clear.  We, 
too,  must  go  further  than  the  mere  fact  of  impulse  to 
misconduct ;  we  must  know  the  actual  content  of  the 
impulse,  be  it  towards  stealing,  or  running  away,  or 
anything  else.  Then  in  studying  sources  we,  too,  may 
not  neglect  either  the  reaction-type  of  the  individual 
or  the  mental  experiences  which  have  been  determining 
factors  in  the  behavior.  Moreover,  as  Freud  says,  by 
working  in  this  well-balanced  way  we  are  likely  to 
make  important  scientific  discoveries  about  the  causa- 
tion of  behavior  trends  in  general. 

For  understanding  our  cases  we  are  under  the  mani- 
fest necessity  of  digging  up  earlier  mental  associations. 
Proceeding  to  the  task,  we  find  that  we  encounter  many 
rich  deposits  of  explanatory  facts.  The  discovery  of 
important  associations,  as  I  have  stated  previously,  is 
made  with  greater  or  less  difiiculty,  and  when  brought 
to  the  light,  they  may  show  the  most  unsuspected 
chaining  together  of  mental  elements.  The  connecting 
links  may  be  just  such  as  Prince  ^  found  in  a  case  he 
has  published,  where  the  patient  suflFered  greatly  from 
phobia  (obsessive  fear)  related  to  the  ringing  of  bells. 
It  was  finally  dug  out  of  the  patient's  subconscious 

1  Morton  Prince,  "The  Psychopathology  of  a  Case  of  Phobia  ",  Journal 
of  Abnormal  Psijchology,  October,  1913. 


APPLICATIONS  39 

mind  that  many  years  previously  she  had  passed 
through  a  time  of  mental  anguish  while  her  mother, 
who  died  soon  afterw^ards,  suffered  from  a  severe  illness 
and  operation  —  and  frequently  during  this  period  of 
anxiety  bells  had  chimed.  She  later  knew  nothing 
of  any  relation  of  her  phobia  to  this  particular  event ; 
she  could  not  by  conscious  effort  recall  any  emotional 
shock  connected  with  bells ;  by  no  ordinary  means 
was  the  subconscious  memory  of  the  effective  associa- 
tion finally  uncovered.  There  had  been  this  conjunc- 
tion, direful  for  her,  of  a  terrific  emotional  strain  with 
a  strong  sensory  impression.  Investigation  of  such 
associations  of  unusual  perceptive  experiences  of  many 
sorts  —  especially  hearing  something  said  or  seeing 
something  out  of  the  ordinary  —  with  high  emotional 
states,  offers  much  of  value  for  the  student  of  mis- 
conduct. 

How  much  of  the  specifically  genetic  mental  back- 
ground of  misconduct  is  unrealized  or  forgotten,  is  a 
matter  that  varies  greatly  and  depends  upon  the  age 
at  which  investigation  is  begun,  upon  experiences 
that  have  been  added,  upon  the  mental  make-up  of  the 
individual,  and  so  on.  As  I  have  intimated  previously, 
the  procedure  necessary  to  bring  up  the  memories  into 
active  conscious  life  may  be  quite  different  in  different 
fields  of  work,  in  studying  misconduct,  for  instance,  as 
compared  to  investigating  the  psychoneuroses.  The 
very  same  kind  of  fact  may  be  much  harder  to  dig  out 
of  one  type  of  subconscious  mind  than  out  of  another. 
We  note  also  the  great  variations  which  may  obtain 
in  studying  the  same  individual  at  different  times. 
We  saw  a  boy  of  twelve,  a  naive,  straightforward 
type  of  lad,  who  had  recently  begun  his  delinquencies. 
He  told  us  of  the  hold  which  certain  other  delinquent 


40  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

boys  had  gained  upon  him,  how  they  had  informed  him 
concerning  sex  matters.  He  had  worried  much  about 
these  things,  he  had  repressed  impulses  and  feehngs  of 
which  he  did  not  approve,  but  he  did  not  hesitate  to 
follow  his  companions'  example  in  venturesome  steal- 
ing. This  lad  later  became  notorious  on  account  of 
daring  burglaries.  We  saw  him  repeatedly  when  he 
was  sixteen  years  old,  and  then  he  seemed  to  be  totally 
unable  to  remember  anything  of  the  earlier  conflict 
which  he  had  so  vividly  described  to  us.  He  had  re- 
mained free  from  the  vices  of  sex  life.  Concerning  his 
failure  to  remember,  the  fact  that  this  boy,  though 
not  feeble-minded,  was  mentally  somewhat  subnormal, 
might  be  thought  to  complicate  matters,  but  his 
memory  processes  in  many  ways  were  found  to  be  excel- 
lent. Although  we  repeatedly  tried  without  success 
to  get  him  to  recall  what  we  knew  had  been  in  his 
memory,  we  should  hardly  care  to  allege  that  this  was 
entirely  impossible ;  perhaps  more  vigorous  measures 
might  have  brought  the  facts  to  consciousness.  Early 
associations,  as  in  the  case  of  the  ringing  bells  that 
Prince  cites,  may  sometimes  be  evoked  under  hypnosis. 
"With  this  young  burglar,  seen  only  at  the  later  date, 
it  would  have  been  quite  impossible  for  the  observer 
to  have  known  that  the  beginning  of  his  career  was 
influenced  by  mental  conflict. 

Mental  repression  is  active  in  most  remarkable 
fashion  in  the  cases  of  misconduct  to  which  we  call 
attention.  The  facts  as  they  appear  in  the  concrete 
examples  seem  thoroughly  understandable.  The  alter- 
natives in  their  simplest  terms,  repression  as  against 
expression,  are  not  evaluated  usually  as  they  were  by 
the  boy  in  John  Muir's  anecdote :  The  lad  used  a 
forbidden  word,  and  to  his  upbraiding  sister  he  re- 


APPLICATIONS  41 

torted,  "I  couldna  help  the  word  comin'  into  me,  and 
it's  na  waur  to  speak  oot  than  to  let  it  rin  through 
ye."  That  repression  takes  place  in  our  cases  is  clearly 
shown  by  the  ingenuous  accounts  of  efforts  to  jam 
certain  experiences,  images,  or  memories  into  the  for- 
gotten, into  a  region  below  the  threshold  of  conscious 
thought. 

The  reader  will  also  note,  however,  in  our  case-studies 
the  expressions,  in  varied  phraseology,  indicating  how 
portions  of  some  particular  constellation  of  ideas  un- 
willed flash  up  into  conscious  mind.  But  frequently 
the  very  same  misdoers  who  tell  of  this  unbidden  en- 
trance of  certain  ideas  into  the  mind  maintain,  "I 
never  think  of  these  things."  Then  it  is  to  the  ob- 
server as  if  glimpses  were  to  be  had  of  an  automatic 
psychological  mechanism  at  work  behind  doors  usually 
closed.  The  explicit  distinction  so  often  made  by  our 
young  individuals  between  an  idea  or  memory  flashing 
up  in  the  mind  and  their  thinking  about  such  an  idea 
or  memory,  shows  how  early  and  in  what  naive  minds 
the  phenomenon  of  repression  can  be  forcefully  at  work. 

Leaving  the  fact  of  repression  as  clearly  established 
for  us,  we  next  may  take  up  some  particular  applica- 
tions of  the  mechanisms  of  mental  conflict.  At  the 
outset  I  must  insist  again  upon  the  impulsive  and  ob- 
sessive nature  of  the  mental  activities  which  follow 
in  the  train  of  conflict.  It  is  anomalous  and  amazing 
that  any  delinquents  should  experience  little  or  no 
pleasure  in  the  doing  of  misdeeds,  or  that  misconduct  is 
undertaken  by  them  without  any  particular  expectation 
of  pleasurable  returns.  Yet  such  appears  to  be  the 
fact  in  many  cases  where  the  misdoing  results  from 
mental  conflict.  It  is  not,  in  these  cases,  for  an  end  as 
judged  in  terms  of  gains  in  the  outer  world,  but  only 


42  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

as  a  response  to  the  dictates  or  urglngs  of  an  inner 
wish,  unframed  in  terms  of  objective  profit,  that  the 
misconduct  is  engaged  in.  Perhaps  no  one  better 
than  Holt  ^  has  brought  out  the  distinction  which 
obtains  between  an  objective  end  mentally  represented 
and  a  bare  wish  or  urge,  either  of  them  as  a  motive 
force.  It  is  the  wish,  often  subconscious,  which  is  the 
dynamic  component  of  mental  mechanisms  set  in 
activity  by  mental  conflicts.  We  may  frequently 
perceive  the  development  of  conduct  impulsions,  and 
even  of  obsessive  imagery,  quite  apart  from  any 
rationalized  will  to  action.  To  the  delinquent  himself 
his  misconduct  often  does  not  appear  at  all  as  a  partic- 
ularly reasonable  or  explicable  act ;  in  later  contem- 
plating it  he  may  state  that  he  perceives  it  to  have  been 
merely  a  following  out  of  an  impulse.  He  gained 
nothing,  and  really  had  no  anticipation  of  gaining 
anything. 

All  who  professionally  employ  mental  analysis  are 
impressed  with  the  phenomenon  of  resistance.  Often 
when  some  point,  frequently  an  important  one,  is 
reached  in  the  course  of  the  analysis,  a  barrier  to 
further  progress  is  suddenly  raised.  There  is  evasion 
of  the  question  immediately  at  issue,  perhaps  a  defen- 
sive forgetting,  or  even  deliberate  refusal  to  go  further 
in  the  given  line  of  inquiry.  With  the  neurotic  patient 
it  seems  sometimes  as  if  there  was  no  genuine  desire 
to  get  well ;  the  ailment  itself  is  cherished.  Or,  it  is 
the  inquiry  that  is  disliked ;  it  bids  fair  to  open  up  the 
mental  life  in  a  way  to  be  shunned.  In  some  of  our 
cases  resistance  is  plainly  observed,  and  at  times  it 
causes  an  attitude  that  is  quite  impenetrable.  I  have 
outlined  an  instance  (Case  12)  of  failure  of  analysis 

» "The  Freudian  Wish",  1915,  p.  100  ff. 


APPLICATIONS  43 

through  this  cause.  Repeatedly  we  have  seen  offenders 
who  have  committed  crimes  over  and  over  again  with- 
out any  returns  except  suffering,  seeming  thus  very 
possibly  victims  of  mental  conflict,  who  showed  an  obsti- 
nate attitude  of  unwillingness  to  go  any  distance  in  the 
exploration  of  their  own  inner  mental  life  that  was 
itself  convincing  evidence  of  existence  of  mental  con- 
flict. In  such  fashion  a  wall  of  complete  inaccessibility 
is  in  rarer  instances  built  up  about  the  deeper  mental 
life.  Experienced  reformatory  workers  have  recounted 
to  me  instances  where  the  offender,  for  instance  an  in- 
telligent young  woman  convicted  repeatedly  of  crimes 
indicating  a  special  trend,  the  genesis  of  which  must 
inevitably  have  been  in  some  restless  fermenting  of  the 
inner  mental  life,  persistently  refused  to  yield  to  the 
most  kindly  advances  toward  penetration  of  essential 
mental  mechanisms.  This  hidden  life  was  cherished  as 
if  the  telling  of  it  would  shatter  the  most  valuable 
of  all  personal  possessions.  We  shall  welcome  the  day 
when  competent  studies  are  recorded  of  such  cases  of 
extravagant  resistance. 

Of  main  importance,  naturally,  in  the  application  of 
mental  analysis  to  our  field,  is  the  resolving  or  in  any 
way  getting  rid  of  a  mental  conflict.  It  is  undoubtedly 
true,  as  some  one  has  suggested,  that  a  mental  conflict 
cannot  last  indefinitely.  In  the  course  of  time,  with 
the  press  of  accumulated  new  experiences  and  interests, 
the  complex  is  bound  to  become  attenuated  and  lose 
power,  or  there  may  be  other  ways  in  which  it  is  dis- 
posed of.  The  activities,  pernicious  and  other,  which 
are  suggested  by  the  original  complex  may  be  given 
way  to,  and  thus  the  latent  energy  be  used  up.  Some 
writers  have  depicted  a  process  called  rationalization, 
through  which  there  is  the  building  up  of  a  reasonable 


44  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

attitude  towards  the  complex,  which  is  then  met  face 
to  face  as  a  bare  fact,  unexplained  and  unexplored, 
and,  even  if  not  resolved,  is  retained  in  one  special 
mental  compartment ;  the  rest  of  mental  life  is  kept 
entirely  aloof  from  it  and  is  not  swayed  by  energy 
liberated  from  the  complex.  This,  of  course,  is  de- 
liberate dissociation ;  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that  a 
mental  conflict  is  thereby  in  any  fundamental  way 
overcome ;  the  complex  is  merely  isolated. 

It  is  self-evident  that  if  a  complex  has  latent  energy- 
producing  powers,  and  conflict  results  in  the  accumula- 
tion of  pent-up  energy,  this,  in  turn,  has  to  be  released, 
worked  off  (the  abreaction  spoken  of  in  the  last  chapter). 
For  the  different  directions  which  the  energy  may  take, 
separate  terms  have  been  offered.  There  is  the  phe- 
nomenon or  mechanism  of  conversion ;  in  this  there  is 
transmutation  of  mental  into  physical  manifestations, 
as  in  hysteria,  but  with  this  we  have  nothing  to  do 
here.  There  is  sublimation  and  displacement  and  sub- 
stitution —  these  terms  indicating  mechanisms  by 
which  there  is  diversion  of  the  energy  of  a  complex 
into  channels  apparently  not  the  main  ones  suggested 
by  the  complex.  These  diversions  of  energy  (as  well 
as  repressions  of  complexes,  for  that  matter)  are  not 
always  abnormal  and  provocative  of  nervous  manifesta- 
tions or  misconduct.  In  any  case,  the  transference  of 
energy  is  into  secondary,  and  what  seems  to  the  sub- 
consciously directed  individual  as  more  permissible 
forms  of  activity  than  are  represented  by  the  ideas 
most  closely  associated  with  the  emotional  elements  of 
the  original  complex. 

The  operation  of  the  substitutive  type  of  mental 
mechanisms  in  diverting  energy  is  to  be  seen  in  many 
of  the  cases  of  mental  conflict  we  have  investigated. 


APPLICATIONS  45 

Without  understanding  the  phenomenon,  one  under- 
stands Httle,  indeed,  of  the  case.  Substitution,  or 
displacement,  is  very  frequently  the  method  by  which 
energy  is  conducted  into  the  channel  of  misconduct  that 
is  explicable  in  no  other  way.  It  is  only  as  we  learn 
the  facts  by  studying  the  deeper  associations  that  rela- 
tionship between  some  important  earlier  mental  experi- 
ence and  the  misconduct  in  question  is  discernible.  Our 
case-histories  show  us  most  clearly  how  the  conative 
element  of  the  mind  (Kant's  "Streben"),  the  energy  or 
striving  in  mental  life,  is  released  through  the  activities 
of  what  the  outsider  calls  misconduct,  but  what  to  the 
doer  seems  a  lesser  delinquency. 

Sublimation  is  a  word  more  properly  applied  to 
diversion  of  energy  derived  from  a  mental  conflict  into 
useful  lines  of  conduct.  This  may  sometimes  take 
place  without  help  from  the  outside,  but  unfortunately, 
only  too  seldom.  With  other  forms  of  transmutation 
of  energy  in  the  mental  life  we  need  not  concern  our- 
selves here,  since  they  hardly  belong  to  the  discussion 
of  misconduct  in  the  ordinary  sense.  But  there  are 
many  interesting  pages  of  discussion  to  be  found  in  the 
literature  concerning  this  basis  for  the  development  of 
prudery,  excessive  religious  tendencies,  and  other 
reactions. 

The  therapeutic  aspects  of  dealing  with  mental  con- 
flicts which,  being  repressed,  react  in  the  form  of 
misconduct,  require  detailed  discussion.  In  consider- 
ing, first,  the  general  theory  of  treatment  by  the  method 
of  mental  analysis,  I  may  cite  Stekel,  who  asserts  the 
task  of  psychoanalysis  (for  us,  mental  analysis)  to  be 
reconciliation  of  the  patient  with  reality.  Expressing 
this  differently,  Putnam  states,  "Every  psychoanalytic 
treatment  is  a  phase  of  an  educational  process  which 


46  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

necessarily  has,  as  its  ideal  goal,  some  sort  of  sublima- 
tion." 

The  ultimate  aim  of  mental  analysis  is  synthesis,  its 
immediate  method  is  the  digging  up  links  of  mental 
association  out  of  the  past  for  the  purposeful  building 
of  conscious  knowledge  of  causal  relationship.  The 
neurologists,  analyzing  functional  disturbances  of  the 
nervous  system,  are  impressed  by  the  fact  that  parts 
of  the  complex  that  escape  from  repression  are  dis- 
covered distorted  and  disguised  by  way  of  attempt  to 
render  themselves  acceptable  to  consciousness.  Some- 
thing of  this  distortion  and  disguise  is  seen  in  our  cases 
of  misconduct ;  conscious  sanctions  of  the  misdoer  will 
not  tolerate  for  a  moment  expression  of  certain  elements 
of  the  complex,  while  other  elements  surreptitiously 
flare  up  in  ways  so  altered  that  their  relationship  to  the 
repressed  material  is  often  not  guessed.  The  solution 
of  the  problem  and  the  cure  of  the  trouble  mainly 
lies  in  developing  the  individual's  own  cognizance  of 
the  essential  association  of  facts.  The  task,  thus,  is  the 
synthetic,  conscious  establishment  of  reality  within  the 
mental  life. 

At  this  point  a  word  on  variations  in  methods  and 
results  is  in  order.  Many  writers  have  commented 
on  the  immediate  therapeutic  value  of  exploration  by 
mental  analysis.  We  have  seen  it  ourselves.  It  is 
in  some  cases  as  if  the  cause  of  trouble  had  only  to  be 
seen  face  to  face  when  it  was  at  once  vanquished.  The 
complex  brought  up  into  consciousness  and  observed 
there  as  a  causal  agent  is  shorn  of  its  power;  out  in 
the  light  its  conative  elements  vaporize.  The  educa- 
tional process  which  Putnam  speaks  of  is  not  always 
necessary  beyond  the  analysis  itself  —  the  proof  being 
that  if  with  the  analysis  unfortunate  manifestations  of 


APPLICATIONS  47 

the  energy  of  the  complex  disappear,  socially  satisfac- 
tory abreaction  must  have  taken  place.  Of  course,  in 
many  cases  the  conflict  cannot  be  devitalized  in  this 
way;  the  complex  may  consist  of  material  too  solid 
to  resolve  so  easily.  Here  is  a  boy,  for  example,  fre- 
quently a  runaway  from  a  good  foster  home  because 
of  conflict  concerning  his  parentage.  He  has  secretly 
heard  that  he  is  an  illegitimate  child,  it  has  been 
whispered  to  him  as  a  taunt  by  a  neighbor's  boy  who 
overheard  the  scandalmonger's  tale.  For  long,  with- 
out a  word  spoken,  our  boy  has  tried  to  down  the 
shock;  his  delinquencies  are  the  reaction.  When  we 
explore  the  causes  of  his  misconduct,  the  material  of 
the  complex  cannot  be  rejected ;  we  find  by  inquiring 
that  he  really  was  born  out  of  wedlock.  A  definite 
educational  process  in  such  a  case  is  absolutely  essen- 
tial, with  every  sort  of  attempt  at  sublimation.  Ex- 
ploration was  necessary',  but  in  this  instance  was  only 
a  first  step.  Much  mental  and,  perhaps,  social  re- 
adjustment must  follow. 

Some  applications  of  mental  analysis  to  certain 
types  of  offense  and  to  certain  classes  of  offenders  we 
may  outline.  Problems  involving  specific  sexual  of- 
fenses as  possibly  related  to  mental  conflicts  I  shall 
give  little  attention  to,  because  many  writers  have 
previously  treated  this  topic.  The  cases  tl^^mselves 
should  be  handled  only  by  specialists  who  are  well 
acquainted  not  only  with  theories,  but  also  with  such 
therapeutic  possibilities  as  have  been  already  worked 
out. 

About  the  following  types  of  delinquency,  indirectly 
sexual,  a  few  words  are  here  in  place  :  Fetishistic  stealing 
as  a  crassly  symbolic  performance  is  well  known  ;  it 
requires  no  acute  discernment  to  see  that  there  must 


48  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

be  underlying  connections  of  imagery  and  association 
between  the  thieving  impulse  and  some  sexual  idea. 
What  there  is  by  way  of  mental  processes  back  of  the 
stealing  of  fetish  objects,  Freud,^  more  than  any  one, 
has  shown  us,  although  Binet  ^  earlier  elaborated  many 
of  the  salient  facts. 

Exhibitionism,  except  the  innocent  variety  in  the 
curiosity  stage  of  childhood,  is  another  delinquency 
which  is  absolutely  impossible  to  understand  without 
mental  analysis.  Most  complicated  are  the  subcon- 
scious motives  of  those  unfortunate  and  occasionally 
intelligent  persons  who  are  obsessed  by  the  exhibition 
impulse.  Even  in  those  partially  demented  alcoholics 
and  senile  individuals  who  indulge  in  this  misdemeanor, 
the  act  is  to  be  regarded  as  representative,  the  object 
of  it  not  being  consciously  framed  by  the  misdoers 
themselves,  and  the  mental  mechanisms  back  of  the 
impulse  not  being  readily  discoverable.  Some  of  the 
same  indirectness  of  motivation  exists  in  cases  of 
voyeurs,  those  beset  by  the  impulse  to  peep.  All  of 
this,  too,  has  been  dealt  with  at  length  by  writers  on 
psychoanalysis.  Homosexual  and  other  sex  perver- 
sions have  likewise  formed  an  extensive  theme  for  the 
analysts,  who  have  discovered  mechanisms  and  types 
of  mental  conflict  responsible  for  these  abnormal 
tendencies.  An  immense  literature  has  grown  up  on 
this  topic  since  the  days  of  earlier  writers  who  merely 
dealt  with  these  peculiar  conduct-tendencies  descrip- 
tively. 

The  infliction  of  cruelty,  sadism,  is  an  offense  based 

*  Several  sexualistic  types  of  misconduct  are  dealt  with  succinctly  in 
"Three  Contributions  to  the  Sexual  Theory",  translation  by  Brill,  New 
York,  1910. 

2  A.  Binet,  "Le  Fetichisme  dans  1' Amour",  O.  Doin,  Paris,  1891. 


APPLICATIONS  49 

on  mental  mechanisms  directly  related  to  the  sex 
impulse.  Even  casual  accounts  of  some  cases  show  the 
connection ;  very  deep  studies  are  necessary  to  get 
at  the  basic  facts  in  others.  Mental  complexes  and 
conflicts  and  repressions  undoubtedly  play  a  great 
role  here.  While  the  relationship  of  mental  repression 
to  sadism  is  clearly^  enough  to  be  perceived  in  many 
instances,  it  has  been  stated  by  experts  that  no  instance 
has  been  completely  analyzed.^  The  cases  we  have 
seen  have  proved  extremely  refractory  to  study,  on 
account,  so  it  has  seemed,  of  resistance  from  feelings  of 
shame  entering  in  so  largely  when  the  matter  was  up 
for  discussion.  Masochism,  a  pathological  enjoyment 
of  the  infliction  of  pain,  is  also  well  known  to  be  based 
upon  repressive  mental  mechanisms.  Masochists  show 
characteristic  outbreaks  of  misconduct  apparentlj^  not 
connected  with  the  fulfillment  of  any  normal  desire. 
There  is  no  need  for  us  to  elaborate  this  subject ;  curi- 
ous self-infliction  of  wounds  has  been  described  at 
great  length  by  various  authors,  and  the  genesis  of  this 
impulse  in  conflicts  centering  about  sexual  matters  is 
well  known.  None  of  the  foregoing  types  of  miscon- 
duct, so  intimately  related  to  the  mental  side  of  sex 
life,  can  be  understood  without  knowing  the  detailed 
studies  of  authorities  on  these  matters. 

About  types  of  individuals  especially  benefited  by 
mental  analysis,  professional  men  who  have  used  the 
method  have  had  much  to  say.  One  of  the  main  ques- 
tions that  has  arisen  with  us  concerns  the  possibility 
of  working  with  adults  involved  in  misconduct.  There 
can  be  little  doubt  that  the  diflSculties  are  much  greater 
than   when    working   with    younger   people.      I   have 

'  Vide  Hitschmann's  "Freud's  Theories  of  the  Neuroses",  translation 
by  C.  R.  Payne,  New  York,  1913,  p.  37. 


50  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

allowed  myself  little  time  for  adult  delinquents  because 
of  the  vastly  greater  promise  of  practical  returns 
through  dealing  with  young  misdoers,  but  even  a  slight 
experience  with  older  offenders  makes  the  complexities 
for  analysis  of  their  problems  loom  large.  Several  of 
the  many  contingencies  are  suggested  in  the  following 
paragraph : 

Through  longer  repression  into  the  subconscious 
mental  life  there  is  vastly  greater  hesitation,  namely, 
resistance,  at  opening  up  the  mental  past.  Outbreaks 
of  misconduct,  even  crime,  have  been  the  events  be- 
tokening the  activity  of  the  complex,  and  there  is 
natural  unwillingness  to  bring  these  to  light.  Also, 
it  is  plain  that  memories  of  trains  of  thought  succeed- 
ing to  the  old  psychic  trauma,  to  say  nothing  of  remem- 
brances of  that  experience  itself,  have  been  very  deeply 
banished.  Then  there  is  the  peculiar  attitude  of  the 
offender  towards  society  and  towards  himself,  a  curious 
mood  for  misconduct  —  a  product  of  attempt  to  con- 
ceal guilt,  of  reaction  to  incrimination,  of  incarceration, 
of  acquirement  of  bad  habits,  of  lack  of  opportunity 
after  incarceration  to  compete  on  equal  terms  with 
his  fellow  men.  The  existence  of  these  various  phases 
of  the  situation  and  of  the  attitudes  which  they  tend 
to  create,  plus  established  mental  habit,  stands  heavily 
against  the  success  of  mental  analysis  with  any  ordi- 
nary type  of  adult  offender  who  might  be  supposed  a 
favorable  case  for  use  of  this  method. 

It  has  been  stated  by  experienced  analysts  that  little 
is  to  be  expected  from  work  under  dispensary  condi- 
tions, with  any  case  coming  to  a  public  clinic.  They 
remark  upon  the  entirely  different  results  obtained 
through  work  with  private  patients.  We  should  deem 
this  likely  to  be  true  of  the  analogous  application  of 


APPLICATIONS  51 

mental  analysis  to  problems  of  adult  misconduct,  for 
it  may  be  that  with  the  more  elaborate  methods  which 
it  is  possible  to  use  in  the  case  of  a  private  patient, 
analysis  with  older  offenders  might  succeed  beyond 
our  expectation.  We  hope  some  day  to  see  studies 
contributed  on  this  point.  With  the  development  of 
broader  social  interests  by  competent  medicopsycholo- 
gists,  perhaps  the  conditions  which  now  bar  success  can 
be  somewhat  altered,  but  for  the  present,  when  there 
is  so  much  to  be  done  with  young  people  by  way  of 
preventing  adult  careers  of  misconduct,  we  urge  greater 
attention  to  the  more  promising  field. 

The  point  made  that  successful  cooperation  with 
the  patient  obtains  only  when  there  are  willing  visits 
to  the  office  and  when  payments  indicate  appreciation 
of  the  gravity  of  the  trouble  and  of  the  sincerity  of 
therapeutic  efforts  is  not  borne  out  in  our  work  with 
young  people.  Perhaps  the  point  would  hardly  be 
made  with  adolescents  and  children,  who  ordinarily 
rely  on  others  to  make  their  engagements  and  pay  all 
their  obligations.  Certainly  on  the  basis  of  our  long 
experience  I  would  confidently  assert  that  mental 
analysis,  if  undertaken  during  the  more  plastic  years 
of  life,  is  a  potent  agent  for  altering  conduct  tendencies, 
even  among  those  unable  to  offer  adequate  recompense 
or  those  held  in  institutions  for  delinquents. 

The  several  types  of  individuals  particularly  to  be 
warned  against  as  unsuited  to  mental  analysis  for 
treatment  of  misconduct  are  those  showing  essen- 
tial mental  disabilities  or  instabilities,  whether  the 
abnormality  rests  on  a  deeply  constitutional,  temporary 
developmental,  toxic,  or  traumatic  basis,  or  is  the  im- 
mediate result  of  some  disease  process.  The  actually 
feeble-minded  and  insane  are  in  a  class  by  themselves 


52  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

for  consideration,  but  giving  rise  to  misconduct  there 
are  also  other  well-defined  abnormal  mental  conditions, 
the  treatment  of  which  calls  for  much  more  than  mental 
analysis  can  offer,  even  when  the  mechanisms  of  mental 
conflict  are  apparently  active  in  producing  undesirable 
reactions.  I  may  merely  mention  constitutional  in- 
feriority, with  its  chronic  states  of  mental  instability 
and  inadequacy ;  cases  of  traumatic  disposition  or 
constitution,  characterized  by  erratic  conduct  reactions 
to  the  minor  stresses  of  life ;  and  instances  where  slight 
aberrational  tendencies  are  shown  as  the  result  of  bodily 
disease.  These  three  classes  cannot  be  regarded  as 
having  normal  self-control,  at  least  in  the  face  of  spe- 
cially trying  conditions.  While,  perhaps,  they  may  be 
somewhat  helped  by  mental  analysis  if  there  is  mental 
conflict  in  the  background  of  their  misconduct,  yet 
it  is  too  much  to  expect  that  they  steadfastly  maintain 
tendencies  towards  good  conduct  in  the  face  of  temp- 
tations and  other  adverse  conditions.  Much  more 
must  be  done  for  them. 

Rarely  to  be  benefited  by  mental  analysis  are  ado- 
lescent girls  showing  hypersexual  tendencies,  even 
though  mental  conflict  plays  a  part  in  the  case.  They 
are  properly  subjects  for  educational  discipline  and 
environmental  control.  We  have  watched  with  pecul- 
iar interest  a  case  of  pathological  stealing  and  other 
misconduct  proving  to  have  typical  mechanisms  of 
conflict,  in  a  sexually  inclined  bright  girl  of  nineteen, 
which  a  competent  psychoanalyst  with  fine  spirit 
faithfully  endeavored  to  treat  in  private  practice. 
The  outcome  was  practically  fruitless,  the  girl  proving 
too  unreliable  in  word  and  intention ;  her  instabilities 
were  excessive,  perhaps  as  the  result  of  exaggerated 
phases  of  adolescent  mental  turmoil,  or  defective  mental 


APPLICATIONS  53 

make-up,  or  unusual  physical  demands.  Pathological 
lying,  which  sometimes  arises,  as  I  have  elsewhere  ^ 
pointed  out,  upon  a  foundation  of  mental  conflict, 
presents  also  grave  difficulties  for  treatment.  The 
falsification  as  an  active  tendency  may  be  carried  into 
the  consultation  room.  Yet  we  can  bear  witness  to 
the  fact  that  in  some,  even  unexpected,  instances 
mental  analysis  has  gone  far  towards  clearing  up  a 
situation  that  ultimately  was  righted. 

The  possibility  of  mental  complexes  and  repressed 
conflicts  being  sources  of  misconduct  in  well  recognized 
cases  of  mental  abnormality,  either  in  defective  or 
aberrational  individuals,  I  have  hardly  any  reason  to 
consider  in  this  volume,  although  I  conceive  it  quite 
likely  that  from  studies  of  cases  of  recurrent  impulse 
to  misconduct  in  such  mental  types  we  might  elicit 
information  of  great  theoretical  and  practical  import. 
Certainly,  in  some  of  these  abnormal  cases,  it  is  quite 
evident  that  the  tendency  to  offense  arises  from  active 
mental  mechanisms  identical  with  those  displayed  by 
normal  individuals.  Thorough  studies,  such  as  hardly 
any  one  but  Glueck  ^  has  begun,  of  the  dynamics  of  mis- 
behavior in  these  types  promise  much.  I  have  never 
felt,  for  example,  that  it  is  psychologically  quite  suffi- 
cient to  say  that  many  a  feeble-minded  delinquent  is 
delinquent  because  he  is  feeble-minded.  The  ques- 
tions may  also  fairly  be  put  in  such  a  case.  Why  is  this 
particular  form  of  misconduct  displayed  ?  Why  this 
impulse  at  all  to  misconduct  ?  Why  not  an  easier- 
going  tendency  to  good  conduct?     Evidently  even  in 

'  "Pathological  Lying,  Accusation,  and  Swindling  —  A  Study  in  Forensic 
Psychology."     Little,  Brown,  and  Company,  1915. 

'  Bernard  Glueck,  "The  Malingerer:  A  Clinical  Study."  International 
Clinics,  Vol.  IH,  Series  25,  1915. 


54  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

these   cases,   there   are   effective   mental   mechanisms 
with  which  we  are  not  as  yet  famihar. 

Mental  analysis  may  be  presumed,  according  to 
many  analysts,  to  be  an  effective  agent  for  treatment 
only  when  used  with  intelligent  individuals.  It  should 
l^  noted  that  so  far  as  our  own  material  is  concerned, 
we  find,  perhaps  for  obvious  reasons,  almost  all  the 
cases  of  mental  conflict  in  offenders  of  more  than  aver- 
'^^  •  age  ability.  We  have  occasionally  gained  some  insight 
into  the  psychic  mechanisms  {vide  Case  28)  of  even 
mental  defectives,  but  interesting  and  valuable  for 
human  understandings  though  such  explorations  may 
prove,  the  outlook  for  treatment  by  analysis  in  these 
cases  is,  of  course,  very  limited.  Memory  powers  in 
the  less  intelligent  may  be  sufficient  to  bring  to  light 
the  genetic  facts,  but  more  than  this  is  required  for 
effecting  the  important  desired  changes  in  behavior. 
There  must  be  clear  apperception  of  the  relationship  of 
cause  to  effect ;  there  must  be  self -perceived  desire  for 
relief  from  the  burden  of  anti-social  impulse ;  judgment 
must  be  sound  to  avoid  the  snares  of  old  habits,  and 
good  intention  must  be  backed  by  normal  will  power. 
Leaving  the  question  open  concerning  whether  or  not 
our  findings  were  due  somewhat  to  the  greater  attrac- 
tiveness of  the  brighter  misdoers  for  psychological 
inquiry,  we  can  at  least  be  sure  that  the  promise  of 
practical  returns  from  the  use  of  mental  analysis  in 
cases  of  misconduct  caused  by  mental  conflict  is  much 
greater  with  the  more  intelligent. 


CHAPTER  IV 
METHODS 

Discussing  methods  of  mental  analysis  suitable  for 
attacking  conflicts  as  causes  of  misconduct,  we  can  at 
once  state  that  these  may  well  show  variations  from 
methods  primarily  adapted  to  treatment  of  the  psy- 
choneuroses.  It  has  been  suggested  by  competent 
students  of  mental  analysis,  looking  over  our  case- 
studies,  that  our  field  offers  material  susceptible  to  a 
simpler  and  less  roundabout  approach.  If  we  are  asked 
to  frame  reasons  why  a  less  elaborate  method  may 
prove  sufficient,  we  can  suggest  the  following  points : 
In  working  with  young  people,  both  children  and  ado- 
lescents, we  are  nearer  the  original  experience  from  which 
the  conflict  arose ;  it  is  fresher  in  the  mind  because  it  is 
less  covered  with  added  experiences  and  their  accumu- 
lated memories,  and  because  it  is  less  confused  with  the 
sources  of  a  myriad  of  later  impulses.  Other  things 
being  equal,  the  less  remote  the  experience,  the  better 
the  memory  of  it,  the  less  effort  is  required  to  bring  it 
back  into  conscious  mental  life. 

Then,  at  earlier  ages,  repression  of  a  mental  complex, 
though  to  be  found  as  a  very  real  phenomenon,  is  less 
strenuously  maintained  than  during  later  years.  Even 
when  the  conflict  has  been  tremendously  active  and 
direful  in  its  consequences,  a  first  simple  inquiry  into 

55 


56  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

its  existence  and  nature  may  be  fruitful.  Very  likely 
the  slighter  consciousness  of  conventional  standards 
that  characterizes  youth  is  a  reason  for  less  resistance. 
Then,  it  is  more  natural  at  this  age  to  be  confiding,  all 
expect  confidences  from  the  young,  and  the  great  differ- 
ence between  the  ages  of  subject  and  analyst  tends  also 
to  increase  willingness  to  confide.  Altogether,  it  is  our 
experience  very  rarely  to  find,  as  in  Case  12,  complete 
inaccessibility  to  the  simpler  methods  usually  employed. 
Another  feature  of  youthful  cases  makes  for  ease  of 
ascertaining  the  genetic  facts.  Disguise  of  the  form 
and  distortion  of  the  path  of  the  energy  escaping  from 
the  complex  is  likely  to  be  slighter  than  in  later  years, 
and  is  much  less  than  when  the  objective  reaction  is  a 
mental  or  physical  ailment.  There  are  many  important 
instances  where  the  analyst  can  very  quickly  with  the 
misdoer  find  clear  memories  of  a  highly  emotional 
experience,  from  the  time  of  which  the  birth  of  mis- 
behavior tendencies  dates.  In  many  cases  the  same 
person  who  caused  the  emotional  disturbance  gave 
the  first  acquaintance  with  the  special  form  of  delin- 
quency toward  which  impulse  is  shown.  The  emotion 
is  evoked  by  introduction  to  facts  of  great  personal  and 
social  importance.  To  have  learned  about  sex  affairs, 
for  instance,  and  stealing  from  one  and  the  same  person 
has  been  the  lot  of  many  delinquents  who  proved  to 
be  the  victims  of  mental  conflict.  In  the  original  con- 
stellation of  ideas,  which  soon  became  a  complex, 
stealing  was  a  specific  component  part.  Indirect  and 
vicarious  and  not  understandable  by  ordinary  observa- 
tion though  the  escape  of  energy  in  the  form  of  stealing 
may  be,  its  dynamic  origins  are  simple  indeed  as  com- 
pared to  the  mechanisms  of  later  life  and  especially 
those  of  nervous  or  mental  invalidism. 


METHODS  57 

The  repression  itself,  we  find,  is  frequently  spoken 
of  by  young  people  in  the  most  ingenuous  fashion  when 
once  there  is  sincere  and  skillful  attempt  to  tap  the  real 
source  of  trouble  —  the  mechanism  does  not  have  to 
be  merely  inferred,  or,  as  in  the  classical  cases,  learned 
by  elaborate  analysis.  In  these  more  naive  individuals 
who  know  nothing  of  mental  conflicts  as  such,  the 
straightforward  recital  of  repression  is  most  striking. 
In  not  a  few  instances  the  fact  of  repression  is  sooner 
or  later  specifically  offered  to  us  as  evidence  of  the  pos- 
session of  moral  attributes ;  the  form  of  delinquency 
actually  engaged  in  is  not  nearly  so  bad  (says  the  delin- 
quent's censor)  as  certain  other  activities,  the  ideas 
of  which  are  repressed.  The  represssion  seems  many 
times  to  have  been  undertaken  in  direct  fashion,  in  a 
sort  of  get-thee-behind-me-Satan  spirit,  and,  indeed, 
may  be  later  regarded  as  having  been  entirely  the  re- 
sult of  a  conscious  process. 

Then,  too,  the  analysis  is  frequently  easier  because 
of  the  misdoer's  awareness  that  the  unfortunate  im- 
pulses are  subconsciously  stimulated.  The  sequence 
of  mental  events  may  be  narrated  with  considerable 
clearness  and  there  may  be  apperception  of  the  initia- 
tion of  misbehavior  tendencies  by  some  inner  mental 
activity  not  the  result  of  conscious  will  to  action.  The 
production  in  subconsciousness  of  energ}^  of  horme,  of 
libido,  or  whatever  it  may  be  called,  is  thus  directly 
felt  as  an  actual  and  strange  determiner  of  action.        ^ 

One  of  the  leading  points  in  method  is  concerned  with 
the  attitude  of  the  one  who  would,  for  the  purpose 
of  therapy,  assail  these  problems  with  the  individual 
offender.  It  goes  without  saying  that  only  those  who 
are  students  of  the  science  and  art  of  mental  analysis 
should  undertake  the  task,  and  these  should  cultivate 


58  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

the  most  sympathetic  and  patient  approach.  The  ex- 
perience of  very  many  delinquents  is  that  they  have 
been  met  either  with  punishment  for  their  misconduct, 
or  with  mere  injunctions  to  do  better.  The  attitude 
of  the  analyst  should  be  the  antithesis  of  one  who  settles 
a  case  without  full  inquiry,  or  who  in  an  offhand  way 
gives  an  opinion  of  why  certain  misconduct  has  oc- 
curred. The  approach  should  be  such  that  the  delin- 
quent himself  feels  that  the  inquiry  into  foundations 
is  born  of  the  desire  to  help. 

The  response  shows  that  frequently  the  offender  is 
fairly  hungry  for  the  chance  to  delve  with  some  under- 
standing person  into  the  real  inwardness  of  his  tenden- 
cies to  misconduct.  Even  when  there  has  been  not 
the  least  understanding  of  the  particular  nature  of  the 
mental  forces  felt  to  be  at  work,  often  there  has  been 
expressed  a  great  desire  to  search  out  the  facts.  We 
have  seen  striking  examples  of  this.  No  wonder  that 
in  such  cases  the  arguments  and  moral  enjoinders  of 
ignorance  fail. 

The  analyst,  taking  the  true  professional  attitude, 
will  make  it  plain  that  he  is  not  shocked  by  disclosures, 
that  the  facts  confided  are  such  as  frequently  form  the 
burden  of  communications  in  the  consulting  room  and 
are  no  reflection  upon  the  innate  moral  qualities  of  the 
confider ;  rather  they  are  evidences  of  a  genuine  desire 
to  be  clean-minded.  This  method  of  attack  is  partic- 
ularly effective  when  resistances  appear ;  then  every 
effort  should  be  put  forth  to  persuade  that  there  is 
nothing  to  be  ashamed  of  in  what  arises  involuntarily 
within  the  mind. 

At  this  point  several  suggestions  of  methods  to  aid  in 
overcoming  resistances  may  be  offered  from  our  experi- 
ence.    We  can  confirm  what  many  analysts  have  said 


METHODS  59 

about  the  necessity  for  cutting  short  the  interview 
when  strong  barriers  to  further  progress  are  raised. 
On  another  day  a  different  approach  may  carry  us 
easily  beyond  the  place  that  previously  seemed  im- 
passable; other  words  may  not  provoke  the  former 
inhibitions.  A  variety  of  devices,  all  fair  enough,  may 
be  considered  when  working  with  children.  Occasion- 
ally a  real  reward  for  truth-telling  is  justifiable,  and 
not  rarely  a  promise  of  immunity  from  punishment 
by  parents  is  securable,  to  be  offered,  in  turn,  to  the 
child.  I  have  mentioned  that  an  immediate  appeal 
for  truth  is  sometimes  readily  successful,  but  in  other 
cases  only  resistances  are  encountered  by  the  procedure ; 
then  any  one  of  the  indirect  routes  of  inquiry  is  to  be 
used.  These  pages  contain  numerous  hints  of  these 
more  roundabout  paths.  One  final  thought  on  this 
topic  is  important :  We  often  find  we  cannot  go  far  in 
the  analysis  until  the  misdoer  knows  that  we  have 
special  and  specific  information  concerning  at  least 
some  items  of  his  misconduct.  It  thus  saves  time  to 
be  forearmed  with  detailed  knowledge  of  some  definite 
delinquencies. 

A  danger  in  starting  mental  analysis  with  offenders 
is  in  laying  stress  upon  recent  delinquencies,  those, 
for  instance,  with  which  they  are  at  present  charged. 
It  requires  little  insight  to  understand  that  for  many 
reasons  there  may  be  desire  to  keep  these  affairs  quiet ; 
even  after  a  case  has  been  satisfactorily  settled,  the 
feelings  of  shame,  chagrin,  etc.  may  cast  an  emotional 
pall  about  the  events,  making  an  entirely  different 
setting  from  that  surrounding  older  delinquencies. 
Time  weakens  emotional  elements ;  any  one  can  look 
calmly  back  upon  experiences  which  formerly  covered 
with  confusion;    and  so  it  is   with   misdoers.     After 


60  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

slight  inquiry  about  the  present  circumstances  (often 
the  details  can  be  learned  well  enough  from  others), 
attention  should  be  directed  to  preceding  periods  of 
mental  life. 

''  We  have  found  that  a  short  cut  to  unearthing  the 
conflict  is  through  persuading  the  delinquent  to  hark 
back  to  his  earliest  knowledge  of  social  offense.  Some- 
times we  are  met  by  the  first  assertion  there  has  been 
no  long  familiarity  with  stealing,  for  instance,  or  that 
acquaintance  with  other  delinquents  has  only  been 
recent,  perhaps  merely  since  the  offender  has  been 
within  the  clutches  of  the  law.  These  statements  are 
unsatisfactory  and  simply  mean  that  the  individual  is 
not  bringing  up  enough  from  the  realm  of  memory,  at 
least  in  these  cases  which  involve  mental  conflict. 
Gradually,  by  skillfully  inquiring  about  the  beginnings 
of  ideas  of  delinquency,  one  does  hear  about  very  early 
experiences,  such  as  are  given  in  detail  in  our  case- 
histories.  The  memory  of  these  may  finally  stand 
out  very  clearly.  Of  course,  indirect  inquiry,  such  as 
concerning  the  doings  of  early  playmates,  the  first 
knowledge  of  the  particular  form  of  delinquency  to 
which  the  offender  is  prone,  the  worst  person  among 
former  or  present  acquaintances,  the  source  of  earliest 
knowledge  of  sex  affairs,  the  person  who  may  have 
shown  bad  pictures  or  taught  bad  words,  any  of  these 
may  revive  a  memory  that  brings  to  light  the  com- 
ponents of  a  complex.  It  may  take  long  to  go  over 
the  memories  of  early  playmates  and  of  experiences 
obtained  from  them  or  through  other  sources,  but  the 
essential  information  is  usually  sooner  or  later  to  be 
obtained. 

Let  no  one  suppose  that  these  memories  are  to  be  left 
without  corroboration.     I  still  am  unable  to  restrain 


METHODS  61 

my  native  skepticism  concerning  some  of  these  remark- 
able revelations  of  seed  sown  years  ago  which  produces 
fruit  at  the  surface  after  long  periods  of  growth  under- 
ground. Generally  it  is  possible  to  get  considerable 
corroborative  information  from  relatives,  and  indeed, 
sometimes  the  first  hint  of  possible  sources  of  trouble 
has  come  from  relatives  themselves  in  response  to 
inquiry  about  companions  who  might  have  exerted  a 
bad  influence,  even  though  not  known  to  have  done  so. 
We  have  had  instances  where  it  was  at  first  impossible 
to  awaken  subconscious  memory  of  bygone  influences 
until  the  clue  obtained  from  parents  was  followed  and 
served  to  stimulate  the  dormant  power  of  recall.  Our 
confidence  in  the  fact  of  the  early  establishment  of 
complexes  and  succeeding  conflicts  and  repressions  has 
been  strengthened  perhaps  more  by  corroborative  his- 
tories obtained  from  relatives  than  by  anything  else. 
They  may  have  known  nothing  of  the  actual  experiences 
or  significance  of  influences,  but  often  were  aware  of 
the  character  of  a  certain  individual  who  was  a  part  of 
the  former  environment.  I  advise  all  analysts  to  seek 
such  corroboration.  Not  that  we  are  met,  after  all, 
by  many  falsifications  in  these  inquiries,  but  one  is 
always  scientifically  justified  in  assuming  that  any 
statement  may  possibly  be  untrue,  and  lying  is  com- 
monly supposed  to  be  prevalent  in  the  world  of  offenders. 
It  is  almost  needless  to  state  that  for  the  sake  of 
avoiding  any  misrepresentation  on  the  part  of  the  young 
person,  suggestive  questions  and  premature  explana- 
tions of  causation  must  be  strictly  avoided.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  there  is  little  need  for  any  suggestion  of 
the  details  of  causations.  Once  the  offender  perceives 
the  open-minded  inquiry  into  foundations,  he  usually 
of  his  own  accord  goes  on  and  on  with  the  analysis. 


62  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

following  the  lead  of  skillful  non-suggestive  questions, 
thereby  showing  his  real  desire  to  be  relieved  of  his 
impulses.  It  is  not  a  matter  of  starting  out  by  saying 
to  the  individual,  "Now,  I  want  you  to  tell  me  what 
is  the  matter,  why  you  act  in  this  way."  Nor  does  one 
ask  whether  the  misdoing  was  started  by  such  and  such 
types  of  specific  experiences.  Rather,  one  leads  on  the 
inquiry  in  simple,  patient  fashion,  till  the  facts  of 
causation  develop  in  consciousness,  and  the  subject  of 
the  impulses  realizes  the  genetic  facts  or  even  explicitly 
states,  "Now  I  see  what  is  the  matter,  why  I  am  doing 
these  things,  how  I  got  started." 

The  force  of  such  a  statement  is  all  the  more  impres- 
sive because  in  our  cases  it  is  frequently  made  by  a 
thoroughly  naive  individual,  one  who  knows  nothing  of 
theories  and  laws  of  mental  life.  And  the  directness 
of  the  phraseology  shows  that  the  misdoer  himself  has 
made  an  unexpected  discovery.  From  another  view- 
point the  obtaining  of  such  a  forceful  expression,  show- 
ing a  new-found  realization  of  causations,  establishes 
firm  confidence  in  the  validity  of  the  method  and  its 
possible  therapeutic  results. 

So  far  we  have  found  in  our  efforts  no  value  in  work- 
ing with  the  artificially  controlled  association  reactions 
that  some  analysts  have  used.  We  have  elaborately 
tried  this  in  a  few  cases,  with  no  success  whatever,  and 
in  hardly  any  instance  has  there  been  need  for  it.  I 
freely  confess,  however,  that  in  the  cases  where  we  have 
failed,  perhaps  had  we  had  the  opportunity  for  still 
more  intensive  studies  such  devices  might  conceivably 
have  proved  useful.  Nor  have  we  discovered  anything 
significant  by  using  the  "Tatbestanddiagnostik"  test 
—  where  it  is  sought  to  learn  important  facts  through 
the  revelations  of  lengthened  verbal  association  reac- 


METHODS  63 

tion  times.  We  have  concluded  through  our  long 
laboratory  experience  that  there  is  a  great  deal  to  be 
said  in  this  connection,  as  in  general,  about  possible 
differences  between  the  reactions  of  young  people  and 
adults.  Of  course,  associations  are  just  what  the 
analyst  is  unearthing  by  his  method,  but  the  desired 
significant  associations  are  brought  out  best  by  tracing 
them  freely,  by  unwinding  the  chain  of  thought  link  by 
link. 

Nor  have  we  for  elucidation  of  the  etiology  of  mis- 
conduct found  it  necessary  to  invoke  the  symbolism  so 
much  in  vogue  with  psychoanalysts.  Again  here  it 
may  be  that  we  thus  overlook  some  deeper  mental 
mechanisms,  but  our  task  is  so  directly  practical  that 
one  does  not  wish  to  inject  into  it  any  such  considera- 
tions of  theoretical  value.  Regarding  this  apparent 
lack  of  necessity  for  utilizing  the  psychoanalytic  system 
of  representative  meanings  of  things,  Doctor  Putnam 
suggests  that  in  our  field  it  may  be  that  types  of  ac- 
tivity (rather  than  any  detail  of  an  end  attained,  such 
as  the  peculiar  nature  of  some  object  stolen)  are  the 
symbolic  manifestations.  We  should  be  inclined  to 
acknowledge  the  possibility  of  this  or  of  the  alternative, 
namely,  that  misconduct  tendencies  may  be  merely 
vicarious,  leading  off  energy  along  paths  divergent 
from  the  original  direction  which  the  complex  indicated. 

For  the  analysis  of  dreams,  so  widely  used  in  the 
investigation  of  the  psychoneuroses,  we  have  also  found 
little  demand.  In  the  first  place,  they  offer  for  us  a 
much  less  direct  method  of  getting  at  the  etiological 
facts.  Then,  although  we  have  made  many  inquiries 
about  significant  dreams,  it  is  rare  indeed  that  we  found 
the  slightest  suggestion  of  anything  that  would  warrant 
analysis  of  them.     It  has  seemed  to  us  very  likely  that 


64  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

dreams  may  be  much  more  vital  for  understanding 
nervous  troubles  than  misconduct;  certainly  in  some 
of  the  misdoers  who  had  symbolic  dreams  there  were 
also  clear  signs  of  nervous  disturbance,  particularly 
hysteria.  In  rare  cases,  to  be  sure,  the  content  of 
dreams  of  offenders  does  certainly  suggest  the  content 
of  subconscious  mental  life  and  the  symbolisms  of 
which  the  Freudian  school  in  particular  has  made  so 
much,  and  so  occasionally  may  offer  help  for  under- 
standing the  basic  nature  of  conduct  tendencies. 

Many  of  our  cases  of  mental  conflict  have  been 
elaborately  studied  by  tests  for  determination  of  men- 
tal ability.  As  a  result  of  our  findings,  I  can  make  the 
general  statement  that  in  no  one  mental  test  or  group 
of  tests  are  reactions  found  that  safely  indicate  the 
presence  or  absence  of  mental  conflict.  Nor  do  we 
find  any  characteristic  attitude  that  is  assumed  towards 
tests  or  towards  the  examiner.  But  this  is  not  saying 
that  the  giving  of  mental  tests  is  useless,  even  for  other 
purposes  than  the  determination  of  the  general  mental 
status  of  the  offender.  One  of  the  points  that  we  see  the 
need  of  continually  emphasizing  is  the  carrying  out  of 
really  constructive  efforts  for  the  reformation  of  mis- 
doers.  To  this  end  studies  serve  greatly  which  may 
establish  the  fact  of  special  disabilities  which  interfere 
with  school  or  vocational  success  and,  even  more  par- 
ticularly, special  abilities  which  may  be  utilized  for 
the  direct  development  of  satisfying  interests.  These 
are  of  the  utmost  importance  for  the  reconstructive 
measures  we  have  attempted  so  often  to  point  out  as 
vitally  necessary  for  the  supplanting  of  pernicious 
mental  activities  resulting  from  conflicts. 

It  is  impossible  in  any  chapter  on  method  to  enu- 
merate all  the  possibilities  of  inquiry  suitable  to  ascer- 


METHODS  65 

taining  the  varieties  of  experience  that  may  be  in  the 
background  of  mental  conflicts.  But  certain  types  of 
experience  we  find  so  common  that  some  specific  direc- 
tions may  be  offered.  I  have  already  mentioned 
inquiry  into  early  companionship.  Then,  perhaps 
nothing  so  frequently  taps  the  source  of  trouble  as 
sympathetic  questioning  about  worries  and  persistently 
recurring  images  or  ideas.  The  simple  asking,  "What 
is  it  that  bothers  you?"  or,  "Do  you  worry  about 
anything?"  is  often  sufficient  to  bring  out  facts  that 
brightly  illuminate  further  progress  in  the  analysis. 
The  recurrence  of  particular  words  which  connote  dis- 
turbing ideas,  or  of  pictures  that  stir  up  the  mind,  or 
of  obsessional  ideas  must  be  made  the  subject  of  care- 
ful, detailed  inquiry.  Still  another  specific  question 
that  sometimes  proves  of  importance,  concerns  whether 
or  not  the  offender  is  the  victim  of  emotionally  dis- 
turbing wonderings  centered  about  acquired  items  of 
half-knowledge. 

Familiarity  with  types  of  troublesome  mental  con- 
tent, whether  auditory  or  visual,  whether  words  or  pic- 
tures or  ideas,  is  to  be  best  gained  from  perusal  of  our 
case-histories.  Indeed,  the  careful  reader  of  the  his- 
tories will  learn  these  facts  and  many  other  points  that 
bear  upon  the  practical  elaboration  of  good  methods  of 
mental  analysis  in  cases  of  misconduct.  If  the  main 
principles  given  in  these  earlier  chapters  are  grasped 
and  acquaintance  is  gained  with  a  good  range  of  con- 
crete illustrations,  common-sense  variations  adapted 
to  the  study  of  individual  cases  should  readily  suggest 
themselves. 

The  exploration  having  been  carried  on  far  enough  to 
find  the  probable  genesis  of  the  given  impulse  to  mis- 
conduct, what  next?     As  may  be  seen  in  a  few  of  our 


66  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

cases,  the  genetic  factors  once  brought  into  conscious- 
ness, the  individual  is  sometimes  able  to  take  care  of 
the  situation.  But  this  bringing  into  consciousness 
must  mean  the  full  realization  by  the  subject  of  the 
causal  connections  that  the  analysis  has  revealed.  The 
enemy  in  the  open  often  can  be  successfully  combated 
if  other  conditions  are  favorable.  One  of  the  most 
essential  of  favorable  conditions  is  a  good  home  en- 
vironment, good  in  the  sense  that  the  causes  which 
led  to  the  conflict  did  not  arise  in  home  circumstances, 
or,  if  they  did,  that  they  are  entirely  altered  after  they 
have  become  known.  Further,  in  the  home  there  must 
be  sympathy  and  understanding  and  the  best  oppor- 
tunity for  the  establishment  of  confidences.  It  is 
notable  that  a  goodly  number  of  our  cases  of  conflict 
come  from  homes  where  the  offender,  as  offenders  go, 
had  unusually  good  opportunities  and  interests,  but, 
of  course,  the  element  of  confidential  relationship  was 
lacking.  (Indeed,  this  incongruity  of  misconduct 
arising  in  a  good  environment  often  leads  one  to  suspect 
mental  conflict.)  In  our  cases  that  were  successful 
immediately  with  the  analytic  exploration,  competent 
relatives  have  nearly  always  had  a  hand  in  the  result 
through  following  our  advice  in  getting  even  more  com- 
pletely at  the  needs  of  the  individual  and  building  up 
new  interests. 

We  have  questioned  the  rationale  of  our  own  therapy, 
whether  it  did  not  largely  consist  of  what  is  technically 
called  "side-tracking",  that  is,  attempting  merely  to 
replace  the  misconduct  impulse  by  better  interests, 
without  resolving  the  real  conflict.  We  have  decided 
that  inasmuch  as  we  attempt  to  deal  with  the  specific 
nature  of  the  actual  factors  producing  misconduct, 
digging  up  the  subconscious  memories  to  get  at  causes, 


METHODS  67 

it  is  much  more  than  that.  But  even  with  this  deeper 
study,  the  diverting  of  energies  to  better  channels 
must  follow ;  there  must  be  sublimation.  Young  people 
must  have  somebody  in  whom  they  can  confide,  or 
some  activity  in  which  they  can  indulge  whenever  there 
is  renewal  of  old  impulses.  With  such  "after-care" 
the  impulses  themselves  gradually  cease;  it  is  only 
where  these  matters  are  neglected  that  they  persist. 
Sometimes,  then,  final  success  does  not  signify  a  con- 
tinuance of  sublimation  as  need  for  it  arises,  but  means 
complete  dissolution  of  the  original  conflict. 

At  this  point  should  be  stressed  the  contrast  between 
mental  analysis  and  the  method  of  suggestion  so  often 
exploited  as  a  possible  treatment  for  misdoing,  sugges- 
tion either  in  waking  or  hypnotic  states.  As  Jones  ^  so 
clearly  points  out:  "The  great  disadvantage  of  any 
treatment  by  means  of  suggestion  is  the  blind  nature 
of  it.  It  achieves  its  results  by  substituting  the  idea 
of  the  physician  for  the  previous  expressions  of  the 
pathogenic  effects."  Through  the  use  of  mental 
analysis,  the  source  of  trouble  is  directly  faced  and  the 
individual  develops  himself  in  perceiving  it  and  attack- 
ing it.  The  victory  is  his  with  as  little  dependence  as 
possible  on  others.  No  one  doubts  the  greater  strength 
that  character  possesses  when  built  with  forces  and 
materials  produced  from  within. 

Exploration  without  re-education  is  a  failure  — \v 
analysts  have  long  stated  this  as  a  truism;  there  are 
rare  exceptions.  What  is  the  meaning  and  program 
of  re-education  in  this  connection?  It  is  the  making 
over  of  certain  ideas,  the  re-interpretation  of  experiences 
and  portions  of  the  mental  content,  the  changing  of 

1  Ernest  Jones,  "The  Treatment  of  the  Psychoneuroses",  in  "Modern 
Treatment  of  Nervous  and  Mental  Diseases",  Vol.  I,  p.  o76. 


68  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

connotations  of  words  and  pictures.  It  is  the  cultiva- 
tion of  openness,  leading  to  the  cessation  of  mental 
repressions  of  experiences  and  thoughts.  It  may  be 
the  supplying  of  knowledge  and  the  satisfying  of  ques- 
tions and  doubts.  It  is  the  supplanting  of  undesirable 
elements  of  mental  life  by  the  centering  of  attention  on 
new  interests ;  the  furnishing  of  new  outlets  for  activi- 
ties. It  may  be  the  establishment  of  a  new  attitude 
and  outlook  on  life.  Of  course  not  all  these  measures 
are  necessary  in  any  given  instance,  but  the  importance 
of  the  process  of  re-education  becomes  clear  from  their 
bare  enumeration.  Just  what  concrete  means  should 
be  used  depends  upon  the  specific,  detailed  needs  of  any 
given  individual  as  revealed  by  the  analysis  of  inner 
causation  and  the  study  of  external  factors  in  the  situa- 
tion. 

Not  the  least  of  difficulties  in  readjustment  arises 
through  necessity  for  alteration  of  previous  environ- 
mental conditions.  We  have  been  plainly  told  by 
offenders,  after  they  had  ferreted  out  with  us  their  own 
conflicts  and  complexes,  that  it  was  useless  to  go  back 
to  old  living  conditions  where  the  conflict  was  bound 
to  continue;  only  in  a  new  environment  would  there 
be  any  chance  at  all  for  success.  One  boy  tells  us, 
for  instance,  that  when  working  on  a  farm  or  busy  with 
the  varied  opportunities  of  a  fine  institution,  as  com- 
pared to  the  meager  interests  of  his  own  home,  he  is  free 
from  conflicts  about  sex  matters.  When  conflicts  are 
built  up  on  sex  instincts,  it  is  useless  merely  to  say  to 
the  offender  that  they  must  be  downed.  The  develop- 
ment of  new  activities  is  a  common-sense  necessity 
that  frequently  in  the  case  of  our  offenders  cannot 
be  supplied  without  complete  change  of  environment. 

Our  failures  largely  include  cases  which  have  gone 


METHODS  69 

back  to  an  unchanged  environment  or  to  new  conditions 
that  have  created  further  conflicts  and  consequent 
need  for  more  repression.  If  a  conflict  has  arisen  in  a 
child  from  suggestions  of  its  own  illegitimacy  or  banal 
parentage,  for  instance,  and  such  suggestions  recur, 
there  is  bound  to  be  further  trouble.  The  same  is  true, 
of  course,  if  there  are  further  observations  of  sex 
affairs  ;  even  suggestions  thereof  may  arouse  new  com- 
plexes and  conflicts.  To  guard  against  this  would 
seem  to  be  a  matter  of  sheer  common  sense,  and  yet 
only  too  frequently  individuals  whose  careers  have 
been  based  upon  mental  conflicts  are  allowed  to  remain 
in  an  unfortunate  environment  where  there  is  renewal 
of  the  ancient  source  of  their  difficulties. 

The  prevention  of  mental  conflicts  is  a  matter  of  far- 
reaching  importance.  Since  the  activities  of  the  mind 
are  controlled  by  mechanisms,  it  is  the  business  of 
intelligent  people  to  gain  some  practical  knowledge 
of  these  mechanisms  and  to  utilize  the  knowledge  for 
furtherance  of  weal  and  prevention  of  woe.  In  the 
up-bringing  of  children  there  are  a  number  of  general 
measures  which  are  well  calculated  to  forfend  the  devel- 
opment of  mental  conflict.  I  know  of  hardly  anything 
connected  with  home  life  and  education  that  I  would 
call  attention  to  more  strongly  than  the  following 
points,  which  have  to  do  with  matters  of  early  mental 
experiences  and  of  relationship  between  the  child  and 
the  other  human  beings  who  form  the  most  essential 
part  of  its  environment.  The  main  ideas  may  seem 
obvious  enough  to  those  who  are  thoughtful  about  the 
mental  lives  of  children  ;  common-sense  ideas  of  moral- 
ity should  be  sufficient  grounds  for  recognition  of  the 
validity  of  the  points  made,  but  very  few  seem  aware 
of  the  more  subtle  and  hidden  troubles  which  develop 


70  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

through  unfortunate  early  experiences  which  might 
well  have  been  prevented.  Indeed,  the  prophylaxis 
of  mental  conflicts  should  form  the  theme  for  many  a 
sermon. 

I  may  first  take  up  the  matter  of  sex  education, 
talked  about  a  good  deal  in  these  days,  but  hardly  ever 
appreciated  in  its  relationship  to  forms  of  misdoing 
other  than  sex  offenses.  In  going  over  our  case-his- 
tories of  misconduct  due  to  mental  conflict,  those 
given  in  this  volume  and  many  others  which  are  not 
given,  no  point  stands  out  so  strongly  as  the  fact  that 
in  these  instances  early  sex  knowledge  and  experiences 
have  been  gained  in  a  most  unfortunate  way,  sometimes 
leading  to  psychic  shock,  or  trauma.  (Here  I  should 
call  attention  to  our  knowledge  of  similar  beginnings 
in  hundreds  of  other  cases  where  the  element  of  psychic 
shock  was  absent,  but  where,  perhaps,  the  habit  of 
masturbation  and  other  sex  difficulties  have  followed.) 
Those  who  are  of  the  opinion  that  early  instruction  of 
children  in  anything  pertaining  to  sex  life  is  to  be  de- 
plored, and  who  themselves  on  this  account  in  their 
own  families  withhold  information,  should  realize  that 
nearly  every  boy  and  girl  actually  does  gain  early 
knowledge  of  these  things.  Under  the  congregate 
conditions  of  modern  life,  the  chances  for  even  a  young 
child  to  learn  about  sex  affairs  from  others,  from  news- 
papers, books,  theatres,  etc.  is  very  great  indeed. 

It  is  certainly  unfair  to  allow  a  child  to  get  its  first 
inkling  of  sex  life  from  sources  that,  through  their 
very  nature,  cast  an  unfortunate  shadow  over  the 
whole  matter.  The  incomplete  and  often  incorrect 
character  of  such  information  and  the  tone  of  its  utter- 
ance miserably  vitiates  what  should  be  pure  and  free 
knowledge.     It  is  the  implication  of  something  socially 


METHODS  71 

forbidden  that  precludes  the  child  going  for  enlighten- 
ment to  older  members  of  the  family,  who  should  be  the 
informants.  The  secret  knowledge  is  sometimes  accom- 
panied by  a  sense  of  guilt  and  shame,  quite  uncalled 
for  by  the  requirements  of  nature  or  of  morality,  but 
which  is  soil  upon  which  mental  conflicts  may  readily 
grow.  There  are  many  problems  of  sex  education 
which  are  not  solved,  but  we  may  be  certain  of  one  great 
point  related  to  the  development  of  mental  conflicts  : 
The  dissemination  of  early  biological  knowledge,  which 
may  be  suitable  even  for  young  children,  will  do  much 
to  prevent  sex  information  with  more  personal  bearings 
coming  with  unwarranted  shock,  or  with  implication 
that  it  must  be  suppressed. 

Analysts  have  spoken  of  the  bad  effects  of  conjugal 
embraces  being  witnessed  by  children ;  functional 
nervous  ailments  have  been  traced  back  to  this  as  one 
cause.  We  have  some  evidence  of  such  affairs  leading 
to  misconduct,  but  more  often  we  have  known  of  in- 
stances where  witnessing  or  suspecting  illicit  sex  rela- 
tions on  the  part  of  a  parent  has  led  to  an  intensive 
anti-social  attitude  and  to  various  sorts  of  misbehavior. 
After  what  we  have  learned,  this  seems  to  me  a  natural 
result,  and  yet  it  is  rarely  recognized  that  such  influ- 
ences create  misconduct  tendencies  in  other  than  sexual 
directions.  Then,  we  have  known  of  many  cases  of 
conflict  leading  to  misconduct  arising  from  witnessing 
illicit  sex  scenes  elsewhere  than  in  the  home.  All  this 
brings  up  again  the  importance  of  confidences  between 
parents  and  children ;  nothing  will  so  guard  against 
harmful  consequences  from  an  experience  of  the  type 
just  mentioned  as  being  able  to  tell  about  it  and  talk  it 
over  with  some  good  older  friend. 

The  basis  for  much  prevention  of  mental  conflicts 


72  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

is  to  be  found  in  close  confidential  relations  between 
parents  and  children.  A  great  deal  could  be  written 
about  the  failure  of  adults  to  understand  the  mental 
needs  of  young  people.  Very  often  their  own  childhood 
points  of  view  are  entirely  forgotten,  and  the  results 
of  the  conditions  of  modern  child  life  are  met  with  the 
statement  that  they  cannot  understand  them,  that 
nothing  like  that  occurred  in  their  own  youth.  To 
inquire  and  to  try  to  understand  are,  on  the  part  of  the 
older  person,  the  first  requirements  of  effective  con- 
fidences. On  the  part  of  the  child,  to  tell  and  to  talk 
over  with  the  right  person  all  important  experiences  is 
no  sign  of  babyishness ;  indeed,  it  is  a  feature  of  be- 
havior that  may  lead  to  strength  and  independence 
of  character.  It  seems  trite  to  say  that  guardians  of 
children  should  have  oversight  of  what  children  are 
doing,  whom  they  are  meeting,  what  they  are  seeing  and 
hearing,  and  as  much  as  possible  of  what  they  are 
thinking,  but  we  find  that  even  in  families  supposed 
to  be  well  cared  for  there  is  often  little  or  no  knowledge 
of  these  important  matters  which  lead  to  the  troubles 
with  which  we  are  dealing.  It  is  said  by  good  observers 
that  under  the  conditions  of  modern  life  there  is  an 
unfortunate  and  growing  laxity  in  this  regard. 

Children  of  recognizable  sensitive  temperament, 
whether  the  symptoms  of  the  sensitiveness  show  them- 
selves by  nervous  reactions  or  by  the  individual  draw- 
ing back  as  into  a  shell,  are  ones  to  be  handled  with  care 
and  with  full  appreciation  of  their  capacity  for  the 
development  of  mental  conflicts.  Such  cases  often 
call  in  times  of  stress  for  the  most  delicate  treatment 
through  private  confidences  with  some  one. 

Lying  and  misrepresentation  to  children  by  older 
people,  even  when  undertaken  from  the  standpoint  of 


METHODS  73 

supposed  good  for  the  child,  are  highly  dangerous.  I 
conceive  this  practice  to  have  the  most  extensive  rami- 
fications, to  have  effects  upon  formation  of  character 
which  cannot  easily  be  measured.  Why  should  this 
not  be  so  if  the  props  of  certainty  and  reliance  are 
knocked  away  when  those  from  whom  truth  is  naturally 
expected  fail  to  live  up  to  their  part  ?  From  the  general 
moral  issues  of  such  failures  on  the  part  of  adults  we 
may  turn  to  the  specific  point  that  misrepresentations 
to  children  about  matters  of  vital  interest  sometimes  do 
actually  cause  mental  conflicts  with  serious  results. 
Freud  has  rightfully  emphasized  this  fact  and  added  the 
observation  that  youngsters  are  vastly  keener  in  their 
impressions  and  feelings  about  lying  and  double-dealing 
than  ordinarily  is  recognized. 

Another  sin  by  parents  that  has  relation  to  mental 
conflicts  consists  in  the  use  of  bad  language,  namely, 
forms  of  swearing  that  are  suggestive,  and  obscenity 
itself.  Of  course,  this  only  occurs  in  households  where 
a  parent  is  of  callous  moral  nature,  or  where,  as  is  often 
the  case,  the  unfortunate  words  are  used  during  intoxi- 
cation. Very  few  would  deliberately  choose  to  poison 
a  child's  mind.  Besides  cases  where  psychic  trauma 
and  conflict  arose  from  bad  language,  we  have  known 
several  instances  where  conflict  and  resultant  mis- 
conduct began  through  the  insinuations  by  a  parent 
or  another  under  the  influence  of  alcohol  that  the  child 
was  not  a  product  of  lawful  wedlock. 

Where  there  is  an  adopted  child  or  an  illegitimate 
child  in  the  family,  there  should  be  the  most  well- 
balanced  consideration  of  how  the  facts  concerning 
parentage  are  to  be  best  handled.  It  may  be  dis- 
astrous if  the  first  intimation  of  the  truth  is  learned  from 
others  than  the  supposed  parents  {vide  Case  6),  or  from 


74  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

documents  that  have  been  secretly  discovered.  It  is 
astonishing  how  easily  leakage  of  the  truth  may  take 
place ;  many  a  guardian  has  said  to  us,  "How  could  he 
have  learned  that;  nobody  has  told  him."  Repression 
in  its  most  vigorous  forms  often  takes  place  with  even 
the  slightest  suspicion  of  anomalous  parentage;  then 
conflict  ensues.  Parental  relationship  is  so  vitally 
connected  with  the  emotional  life  of  childhood  that 
suggestion  of  irregularity  in  it  comes  as  a  grave  psychic 
shock.  And  the  importance  of  any  peculiarity  pertain- 
ing to  parentage  is  immensely  added  to  in  the  individ- 
ual's mind  if  there  be  any  social  derogation  on  account 
of  it.  Innuendos  concerning  parentage,  even  of  little 
playmates  who  hardly  know  what  they  are  talking 
about,  cut  deeper  than  almost  anything  else  in  the 
world,  arouse  conflicts,  and  induce  definite  anti-social 
attitudes  and  misconduct.  There  is  no  help  for  the 
situation  when  once  the  facts  have  spread  about  a 
neighborhood ;  there  should  be  a  complete  change  of 
environment  for  the  sake  of  prevention  of  harm.  To 
head  off  in  the  first  place  any  secret  and  shock-producing 
information  that  almost  surely  will  be  imparted,  the 
truth  in  some  form  must  be  declared.  Most  fre- 
quently there  is  a  feeling  in  the  given  family  circle 
that  the  facts  should  be  concealed,  but  from  our  experi- 
ence with  the  bad  effects  of  such  sub  rosa  treatment  of 
the  unfortunate  situation  in  many  cases,  I  am  strongly 
inclined  to  believe  that  openness  of  statement  never 
does  as  much  harm  as  concealment. 

The  prophylaxis,  in  general,  of  mental  conflicts  can 
be  readily  seen  to  depend,  in  the  first  place,  upon 
knowing  what  type  of  experiences  do  so  unfortunately 
influence  the  young  mind,  and  in  the  next  place,  guard- 
ing as  much  as  possible  against  these  experiences,  and 


METHODS  75 

especially  guarding  sensitive  types  of  individuals. 
Once  the  experiences  have  been  encountered,  the  next 
thing  is  prevention  of  harmful  effects  by  means  of  the 
methods  we  have  outlined  above.  All  this  has  to  do 
especially  with  the  treatment  of  the  case  by  those  who 
are  near  to  the  child,  but  there  is  another  outlook  upon 
this  problem. 

Once  mental  conflicts  have  become  active,  there  is  not 
only  need  for  the  exploration  and  re-education  of  which 
we  have  been  speaking,  but  also  for  prevention  of 
further  development  of  coniplexes.  Conditions  such 
as  initiated  or  permitted  the  first  unfortunate  experi- 
ences only  too  frequently  persist  in  the  offender's 
immediate  world.  All  that  I  have  said  about  methods 
of  prevention  of  mental  conflicts  ever  arising  in  a 
child's  life  is  applicable  here.  Healthy,  vigorous 
mental  interests  and  confidential  relationships  more 
than  ever  should  be  fostered,  for  through  these  is  the 
best  chance  of  adequate  sublimation. 

And  re-education,  too,  of  parents  (or  other  guardians 
or  members  of  a  household)  we  find  has  now  to  be  con- 
templated. Our  case-studies  will  show  how  important, 
as  well  as  how  impossible  this  sometimes  may  be.  It 
is  extremely  difficult  in  very  many  instances  to  make 
parents  appreciate  what  is  meant  by  mental  conflict  as 
the  source  of  misconduct,  even  when  analysis  has  re- 
sulted in  a  great  change  for  the  better.  Nor  is  this 
to  be  wondered  at  if  we  think  of  how  little  comprehen- 
sion exists  of  even  the  laws  of  the  visible  world.  The 
conception  of  mental  mechanisms  and  laws  is  subtle 
and  new  and  altogether  far  beyond  ordinary  ideas  of 
things.  Fortunately  the  practical  bearings  are  occa- 
sionally grasped,  and  the  case  intelligently  handled  in  a 
fashion    which    demonstrates   for   us    the   therapeutic 


76  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

possibilities  in  family  life.  To  get  older  people  to  be 
more  sympathetically  confidential;  to  cultivate  more 
understanding  of  the  vital  problems  of  youth,  to  give 
more  of  their  own  time  to  companionship  is  the  task  of 
their  re-education. 

In  juvenile  court  work,  we  look  forward  to  better 
control  of  all  features  of  environment  which  contribute 
to  delinquency.     If  even  through  the  insidious  paths 
of  mental  conflict  conditions  are  active  which  make 
for  misconduct,  they  should  be  strenuously  combated. 
If  adults  themselves  are  not  willing  to  live  proper  lives, 
and  their  influences  induce  misbehavior  on  the  part  of 
children,  their  conduct  on  this  count  alone  is  a  social 
menace  and  should  be  treated  as  such.     In  some  cases 
it  may  be  absolutely  essential  to  put  the  child,  after 
analysis  of  the  difficulty,  under  some  one  outside  of  the 
family  who  will  undertake  to  get  confidences  and  to 
re-educate.     Pastors  who   have  made  themselves  ac- 
quainted with  this  field  might  be  utilized  to  direct  this 
effort,  and  perhaps  well-trained  probation  officers,  or 
other    workers     who    have    developed    psychological 
insight.     If  a  conflict  case  is  not  recognized  as  such  it 
frequently  means,  as  shown  in  our  case-studies,  a  long 
and  expensive  period  of  institutional  treatment  by  the 
State,  frequently  without  betterment. 

The  fact  that  the  genesis  of  delinquent  careers  so 
often  dates  back  to  mental  life  of  childhood  makes  it 
imperative  that  the  problems  of  childhood  should  more 
than  ever  be  the  subject  of  study.  No  reader  of  our 
case-histories  can  avoid  this  conclusion.  Around  the 
original  source  may  be  deposited  in  mental  life  an  im- 
mense amount  of  material  in  the  form  of  memories  and 
effects  of  experiences,  and  the  whole  later  picture 
consequently  be  colored  by  many  other  elements  than 


METHODS  77 

those  which  represent  the  first  springs  of  tendencies  to 
misconduct.  In  measuring  the  possibility  of  practical 
results,  no  one  who  appreciates  in  the  least  the  effect 
of  the  establishment  of  mental  and  social  habits  can 
doubt  the  great  comparative  value  of  beginning  recon- 
structions before  the  reactions  to  mental  conflict  create 
undesirable  habits  of  thought  and  action. 


CHAPTER  V 

CONFLICTS    ACCOMPANIED    BY   OBSESSIVE 

IMAGERY 

Other  mental  manifestations  besides  the  conflict 
may  be  dynamic  features  of  the  background  in  cases  of 
misconduct.  It  has  been  deeply  interesting  to  hear 
how  forceful  a  part  mental  imagery  plays  in  some 
instances,  —  accounts  of  the  phenomena  being  given 
by  the  victims  themselves.  The  clearness  with  which 
the  imagery  stands  in  relationship  to  the  conflict,  on 
the  one  hand,  and  to  misconduct,  on  the  other,  is  most 
instructive.  Mental  mechanisms  in  these  cases,  as  in 
the  following  illustrations,  come  plainly  into  sight. 

Case  1.  Of  very  great  interest  is  the  following  re- 
markable recurrence  of  impulse  to  misconduct,  origi- 
nating each  time  with  ideas  or  imagery  concerning 
another  person  who  was  the  center  of  an  excessively 
emotional  experience.  The  case  shows  very  distinct 
repression  of  certain  parts  of  the  experience,  with  out- 
bursts of  impulse  traceably  related  to  the  repressed 
elements.  The  associative  activities  showed  so  clearly 
that  the  analyst  felt  as  if  privileged  to  witness  and 
understand  mental  processes  ordinarily  unrevealed. 

Melda  B.  was  almost  eleven  when  we  saw  her  for 
the  first  time.  We  have  known  her  intimately  three 
years. 

78 


CONFLICTS  AND   OBSESSIVE   IMAGERY    79 

Physically,  she  has  presented  decidedly  normal  con- 
ditions, except  for  enlarged  tonsils.  Vision  is  slightly 
defective.  She  is  a  pleasant  appearing  girl  of  good 
color  and  regular  features. 

Mentally,  she  proved  herself  quite  capable  by  tests, 
although  she  has  been  a  little  retarded  educationally 
through  frequent  changing  of  schools.  All  along  we, 
as  well  as  others,  have  observed  that  Melda  is  a 
thoroughly  straightforward  girl  and  is  evenly  balanced 
on  the  emotional  side. 

Melda's  pleasant  and  exceedingly  affectionate  parents 
were  terribly  worried  about  her  outbreaks  of  stealing, 
and  from  the  first  were  willing  to  cooperate  in  every 
way.  They  showed  a  receptive  attitude  towards  the 
facts,  such  as  we  have  often  failed  to  find  among  much 
better  educated  people.  It  appeared  that  at  home  the 
girl  was  very  well  behaved  and  helpful.  No  troubles 
had  arisen  between  her  and  the  other  children,  two 
older  brothers.  Altogether  there  had  been  a  back- 
ground of  pleasant  and  healthy  home  life  and  of  good 
general  environmental  conditions. 

Developmental  history  was  negative  except  for  a 
head  injury  at  seven  years,  which,  however,  had  been 
only  a  slight  affair,  and  attacks  of  convulsions,  one  at 
two  years,  and  again  at  three  years  of  age.  She  had 
not  had  a  single  serious  illness. 

No  others  in  the  familv  on  either  side  had  suffered 
from  convulsions  or  epilepsy,  so  far  as  known,  nor 
could  we  ascertain  any  other  facts  that  showed  ab- 
normality in  heredity. 

Melda  had  been  taken  by  the  police,  when  we  first 
saw  her,  for  stealing  a  pocketbook  from  a  woman  in  a 
department  store.  There  was  no  question  about  the 
matter ;   she  had  been  observed  in  the  act.     The  case 


80  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

was  studied  by  Doctor  Augusta  Bronner  and  myself; 
a  few  interviews  were  sufficient  for  us  to  get  at  certain 
vital  features  of  the  situation.  In  working  our  way 
back  to  beginnings,  we  learned  incidentally  of  much 
other  thieving.  Indeed,  even  at  the  start,  Melda 
wanted  to  pour  out  her  troubles  and  soon  told  us  that 
this  last  event  was  the  culmination  of  three  years  of 
impulse  to  steal.  Her  whole  story,  gradually  developed, 
may  be  given  in  short  as  follows : 

Some  three  years  previously  the  family  lived  in  a 
neighborhood  where  there  were  a  number  of  bad  boys 
and  girls.  Not  that  Melda  saw  anything  very  bad 
going  on,  but  she  heard  about  it.  In  particular  there 
was  Annie.  She  was  an  older  girl  who  went  with 
boys,  "big  boys,  too",  and  often  asked  Melda  to  go 
along  with  her.  This  girl  used  vicious  language  and 
would  say  "the  bad  words  over  and  over  again.  She 
wrote  them  on  the  house  too."  Melda  told  us  that 
at  first  she  did  not  know  what  these  words  meant, 
although  she  knew  they  were  improper  and  knew  they 
had  reference  to  what  Annie  did  that  was  wrong. 
Melda  still  remembered  those  words,  perhaps  ten  of 
them.  Melda  had  suffered  no  physical  sex  experience, 
but  everything  she  had  learned  of  these  matters  stands 
out  very  clearly  in  her  mind. 

Going  back  to  the  occasion  when  Melda  first  had 
acquaintance  with  stealing,  we  found  that  the  story 
involved  this  same  Annie.  "  Then  I  saw  her  steal ;  she 
took  a  pocketbook,  and  she  would  take  things  from 
any  store.  I  saw  her  walk  past  a  counter  and  take 
something,  that  was  from  M.'s  department  store.  I 
can  see  her  just  as  plain  as  if  she  was  doing  it.  Once 
she  took  me  to  a  store,  a  5  and  10  cent  store,  and  told 
me  to  take  a  bracelet  and  a  bottle  of  perfume,  and  I 


CONFLICTS  AND   OBSESSIVE   IMAGERY    81 

did.  She  said  to  wait  until  no  one  was  watching  and 
then  put  it  in  my  handkerchief  and  slip  it  in  my 
pocket.  When  we  came  out  of  the  store  she  took  the 
things."  Melda  tells  us  that  at  this  period  when  she 
was  being  told  about  sex  things  by  Annie  and  being 
also  instructed  in  stealing,  she  used  to  take  things 
from  her  mother.  "Annie  used  to  live  in  the  same 
house  with  us.  She  lived  in  the  basement.  She  swore 
something  terrible;  such  words  I  can't  tell  them  to 
you.  I  never  think  about  them.  Only  what  she  told 
me  comes  in  my  mind,  and  I  can  see  all  those  three 
times  I  saw  her  stealing.  They  always  come  in  my 
mind  before  I  take  things.  When  I  am  busy  it  does 
not  bother  me,  and  sometimes  when  it  comes  in  my 
mind,  I  take  a  book  and  read  and  it  goes  away.  But 
sometimes  it  stays,  and  I  can't  think  of  what  I  am 
reading,  and  then  I  take  things  off  my  mother." 

From  the  parents  also  we  learned  about  Annie. 
She  was  the  daughter  of  some  disreputable  people ; 
for  a  time,  unknown  to  them,  Melda  had  gone  with 
her.  They  became  so  concerned  that  they  moved 
away  from  the  neighborhood  on  account  of  this,  and 
supposed  long  since  that  all  the  bad  influence  had  dis- 
appeared. Annie  had  the  reputation  of  both  stealing 
and  being  immoral,  they  afterwards  learned.  They 
had  made  absolutely  no  inquiry  concerning  what 
Annie  in  any  secret  way  might  have  taught  their  own 
little  girl. 

The  details  Melda  gave  of  the  stealing  affair  when 
she  was  arrested,  and  of  what  preceded  it,  were  a 
graphic  presentation  of  her  impulses  and  their  back- 
ground. In  the  morning,  on  that  Saturday,  her 
mother  sent  her  to  market  with  her  brother.  "There 
I  saw  Annie,  and  she  came  up  to  me  and  asked  me  if 


82  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

I  still  stole.  I  told  her  no.  Then  I  ran  away  from 
her,  but  that  night  when  I  went  back  to  M.'s  depart- 
ment store,  it  all  came  back  into  my  mind  about  her. 
Then  they  caught  me,  a  detective  did,  and  they  took 
me  to  the  station.  I  was  so  scared  I  said  just  any- 
thing.    I  didn't  know  what  I  said." 

M.'s  store  is  the  same  place  where  Melda  had  first 
seen  Annie  steal,  and  it  was  there  Annie  had  herself 
taken  a  pocketbook.  "It  was  there  just  like  I  saw 
her.     It  came  in  my  mind  what  she  did." 

Melda  all  along  made  much  more  of  Annie's  bad- 
ness in  other  directions  than  of  her  stealing.  She 
stated  that  Annie  would  never  tell  her  the  meaning 
of  the  bad  words  which  she  said,  but  just  repeated 
them  over  and  over.  Melda  had  never  asked  her 
mother  about  these  things.  The  child  told  us  in  detail 
of  her  visualizing  powers.  Without  any  suggestion  on 
our  part,  she  explained  how  plainly  she  could  see 
things  in  her  imagination.  "When  I  am  reading 
stories,  I  see  things  just  as  plain  as  if  they  were  real." 
She  vouchsafed  this,  apparently,  in  explanation  of  her 
statement  that  she  could  almost  see  Annie  standing 
before  her  stealing  things.  She  was  not  troubled  by 
other  mental  pictures,  however,  and,  in  particular, 
what  she  saw  at  moving  picture  shows  did  not  come 
up  in  her  mind. 

We  tried  to  make  the  mother  understand  the  bear- 
ing on  the  possibilities  of  better  conduct  of  what  this 
intelligent  child  told  us  of  her  mental  life.  We  heard 
no  more  of  the  case  for  a  year  and  a  half,  when  she 
was  brought  into  court  once  more. 

This  time  Melda  had  been  arrested  in  a  department 
store  in  another  part  of  town  with  a  stolen  pocket- 
book,  an  undergarment,  and  a  waist.     Our  attention 


CONFLICTS  AND   OBSESSIVE   IMAGERY    83 

was  again  called  to  the  case,  and  once  more  our  interest 
was  keenly  aroused  by  the  association  processes  actively 
at  work  producing  misconduct.  Before  we  saw  her 
this  time,  Melda  had  already  told  the  judge  that  it 
was  her  memory  of  what  a  girl  had  told  her  years  ago 
that  caused  her  to  steal. 

From  the  mother  we  heard  that  Melda  had  been  a 
wonderfully  good  girl  since  her  previous  outbreak; 
she  had  not  stolen  a  single  thing  until  now.  The  nice- 
looking  older  brother  corroborated  this  account,  which 
was  all  the  more  believable,  because  the  mother  her- 
self had  wanted  her  brought  to  us  originally  and  had 
reported  all  that  she  knew  of  her  misconduct.  Since 
that  time  Melda  had  stayed  at  home  very  closely  and 
had  proved  unusually  industrious.  Frequently  she 
had  asked  her  mother  for  extra  work  to  do.  She 
wanted  to  wash  dishes  and  scrub  the  floor;  it  seemed 
almost  as  if  there  was  not  enough  for  her  to  do,  she 
worked  so  well.  Her  parents  were  generous  about 
getting  little  things  for  her  as  she  desired  them,  and 
everything  went  along  most  pleasantly.  Iler  school 
record,  too,  was  excellent.  The  only  point  that  her 
mother  had  noticed  was  that  Melda  sometimes  seemed 
to  be  staring  off  in  the  distance  and,  if  spoken  to,  a 
minute  later  would  say  that  she  had  not  heard  what 
her  mother  said.  The  parents  stated  that  they  were 
on  the  verge  of  suicide  on  account  of  this  new  disgrace. 
The  father  could  not  do  his  work  properly,  he  was  so 
affected.  The  mother  had  tried  to  ask  Melda  about 
Annie's  influence,  after  we  saw  her,  but,  of  course, 
could  not  go  very  far  in  analysis  of  the  trouble.  Again 
she  did  not  dream  that  there  was  any  inner  mental 
difficulty. 

The  circumstances  surrounding  and  preceding  this 


84  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

last  stealing  were  clearly  described  to  us  by  Melda, 
and  on  several  of  the  points  we  were  fortunately  able 
to  get  some  corroborative  testimony.  Melda  was 
going  to  her  cousin's,  as  the  mother  had  planned,  on  a 
certain  morning,  and  got  off  the  car  a  couple  of  blocks 
before  she  reached  her  destination,  and  went  to  the 
grocery  department  of  a  department  store  to  get  some 
cookies.  At  the  door  she  saw  Annie  for  the  first  time 
in  a  year  and  a  half.  The  older  girl  called,  but  Melda 
would  not  go  and  Annie,  whistling,  walked  away  with 
her  companion.  Instead  of  going  out,  Melda  then 
loitered  around  in  the  store.  "I  was  thinking  about 
Annie,  so  I  didn't  hurry  out."  We  attempted  further 
analysis  of  Annie's  influence. 

"The  only  bad  girl  I  ever  knew  was  Annie.  Ever 
since  I  saw  her  steal  some  scissors  I  have  got  it  in  my 
mind.  I  see  her  as  if  she  was  telling  me  what  she  was 
doing.  /  see  her  standing  right  beside  me.  If  I  read  a 
book  and  it  is  about  a  girl,  I  see  her  like  a  picture.  Those 
bad  words  she  used  to  say,  they  would  often  come  back 
in  my  mind,  but  the  words  do  not  come]  back  any 
more." 

"  It  is  like  she  was  standing  in  front  of  me ;  as  if  she 
was  telling  me  what  she  does ;  just  as  if  she  was  call- 
ing me  to  go  along  with  her  some  place.  Sometimes  it 
is  so  plain,  I  think  it  is  her.  Then  I  don't  know  what 
to  do,  and  I  ask  my  mother  to  give  me  some  work. 
When  I  get  to  washing  dishes,  then  I  quit  thinking 
of  her.  /  see  her  when  I  read  in  the  book.  It  is  like 
she  was  standing  in  between  the  people  in  the  pictures. 
Once  in  a  while  at  school  when  we  are  reading,  then 
I  ask  my  teacher  if  I  can  do  something  else.  When  I 
try  not  to  think  about  it,  I  have  to  do  some  hard 
thing  to  stop  thinking  about  her.     I  would  be  so  glad 


CONFLICTS  AND   OBSESSIVE   IMAGERY    85 

not  to  think  about  her  no  more,  because  I  don't  want 
to  make  my  mother  that  shame." 

"When  I  think  about  her  most  and  feel  like  steal- 
ing, it  is  when  I  see  pictures  of  boys  and  girls  on  one 
page.  She  used  to  show  me  picture  books  she  stole. 
Once  she  showed  me  a  picture  of  a  boy  and  girl  kissing. 
She  told  me  then  about  bad  things,  and  now,  when  I 
see  a  picture  with  a  boy  and  girl,  I  think  about  what 
she  told  me,  and  then  I  think  of  her  and  the  stealing. 
This  is  the  first  time  I  saw  her  since  I  stole  that  last 
time.  I  think  that  I  ought  to  stop  looking  at  picture 
books,  because  it  is  pictures  that  makes  me  think  of 
her.  Sometimes  when  I  look  at  a  map  in  school,  it  is 
like  she  was  standing  on  it.  She  once  showed  me  a  map, 
but  I  don't  think  of  that  so  often.  It  is  when  I  see 
pictures  about  little  boys  and  girls  in  one  picture, 
that  is  when  it  is  the  worst," 

As  far  as  we  could  ascertain,  this  girl  was  not  a 
great  visualizer  in  general.  We  asked  her  about  re- 
membering pictures  of  other  subjects,  such  as  those 
she  saw  in  her  geography,  but  it  appeared  it  was  only 
the  pictures  which  suggested  or  were  directly  associated 
with  her  vivid  experiences  with  Annie  which  presented 
themselves  mentally  in  any  strong  fashion.  We  found 
that  Melda  was  once  with  Annie  when  the  latter  took 
some  picture  books  from  a  department  store.  It  was 
extremely  interesting,  also,  that  Annie  had  stolen  a 
book  with  maps  in  it,  perhaps  a  geography,  and  in 
showing  Melda  this  book  had  opened  it  for  her  to 
see  the  maps.  Here  was  the  basis  of  the  obsessional 
imagery  associating  Annie  with  maps  and  also  with 
picture  books  in  general. 

Melda,  as  well  as  her  mother,  assured  us  that  during 
this  period  of  a  year  and  a  half  she  had  stolen  nothing 


86  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

at  all.  She  said  that  she  often  got  "a  feeling  of  tak- 
ing things",  but  did  not  do  so.  She  had  managed  to 
overcome  this  by  reasoning  with  herself  and  by  busy- 
ing herself  as  much  as  possible.  She  said  that  it  was 
when  she  was  trying  to  overcome  the  ideas  and  pic- 
tures which  came  up  in  her  mind  that  she  asked  her 
mother  for  hard  work  to  do.  It  was  clear  that  her 
behavior  had  broken  bounds  again  when  her  associa- 
tions were  powerfully  renewed  by  actually  seeing  the 
cause  of  her  original  emotional  disturbance. 

All  through  this  second  court  experience  Melda  ap- 
peared as  a  thoroughly  normal  and  terribly  distressed 
child.  She  showed  the  judge  the  book  of  good  pictures 
which  had  been  given  her  a  few  days  before,  and  said 
that  she  was  going  to  have  these  in  her  mind  instead 
of  the  old  ones.  We  had  a  very  encouraging  inter- 
view with  the  mother  and  child  together.  Melda 
promised  always  to  go  to  her  mother  now  about  any 
kind  of  temptations  which  she  might  have,  and  we 
tried  to  impress  the  mother  more  than  ever  with  the 
need  of  gaining  the  girl's  confidence. 

For  over  a  year  and  a  half  now  there  has  been  no 
trouble  whatever  with  Melda.  She  has  been  doing 
very  well  in  school  and  at  home ;  she  is  in  the  eighth 
grade.  Her  mother  reports  that  the  girl  seems  very 
happy  most  of  the  time  and  has  been  unusually  helpful. 
Melda  herself  tells  us  that  her  old  imagery  has  been 
growing  less  and  less ;  only  on  a  couple  of  occasions 
during  the  last  six  months  has  she  been  bothered,  and 
then  she  told  her  mother  about  it  and  began  to  work 
very  hard.  In  particular  she  has  been  reading  the 
book  given  to  her  and  has  been  trying  ardently  to 
image  to  herself  one  of  the  pictures  which  was  sug- 
gested to  her  as  being  especially  good.     She  has  tried 


CONFLICTS  AND   OBSESSIVE   IMAGERY    87 

this,  she  states,  whenever  the  old  pictures  have  started 
to  appear  in  her  mind ;  indeed,  she  has  been  carrying 
this  book  with  her  most  of  the  time. 

During  the  year  two  most  unfortunate  incidents 
have  occurred  which  bear  upon  the  general  problem  of 
reformation  of  offenders.  Melda  was  waiting  for  a 
few  minutes  on  a  crowded  corner  in  her  old  neighbor- 
hood when  she  saw  a  woman  with  her  hand  bag  open. 
She  went  up  to  the  woman  and  told  her  of  this,  and 
the  latter  closed  it.  A  man  standing  by  led  her  to  a 
police  officer  on  the  corner,  and  he,  knowing  of  her, 
took  her  to  the  station.  The  juvenile  ofiicer  of  the 
district,  an  unusually  discerning  man,  immediately  in- 
vestigated the  case  and  found  there  was  nothing  to  it. 
The  woman  herself  said  that  no  one  had  attempted 
to  take  anything  from  her  hand  bag.  The  matter, 
of  course,  was  not  carried  to  court,  but  Melda  was 
naturally  much  disturbed. 

Still  another  incident  occurred,  showing  how  a  bad 
reputation  follows  the  offender.  Melda  came  in  to  us 
to  report  that  she  had  been  sent  home  from  school  and 
told  not  to  come  back.  The  school  people  knew  that 
she  had  been  "locked  up",  and  when  a  certain  other 
girl  in  her  room  told  the  teacher  that  Melda  was  steal- 
ing again,  they  believed  it.  Now,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
it  appears  that  this  girl  had  tried  to  persuade  Melda 
to  go  stealing  with  her,  and  Melda  refused,  whereupon 
this  girl  made  the  accusation.  Melda  came  in  to  us 
with  tears  streaming  down  her  cheeks,  bringing  a  girl 
friend  from  the  same  room  to  testify  to  us  about  the 
other  girl.  This  affair  was  soon  adjusted,  and  Melda  was 
returned  to  school.  She  is  now  very  jealous,  naturally, 
of  her  reputation,  and  assured  us  that  recently  she  has 
had  no  temptations  whatever  to  take  things. 


88  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

(After  this  long  period  of  success,  very  disturbing 
events  have,  since  the  above  writing,  developed  in  the 
family  life,  involving  dehnquencies  or  even  mental 
unbalance  of  one  of  Melda's  parents.  Again  a  most 
unfortunate  sex  affair  has  been  thrust  into  the  girl's 
immediate  experience.  It  was  a  matter  of  great  inter- 
est to  us  to  find  that  she  reacted  once  more  by  stealing. 
On  account  of  this  miserable  family  situation  lately 
arisen,  the  outcome  for  INIelda's  behavior  must  now  be 
considered  precarious  unless  she  is  removed  to  a  better 
mental  and  moral  environment.) 

Case  2.  A  wonderfully  clear,  direct  account  of  mental 
imagery  was  obtained  in  the  following  instance.  The 
search  for  causation  of  the  delinquency  was  greatly 
aided  by  the  intelligent  and  stalwart  attitude  of  both 
the  offender  and  his  relatives.  His  introductory  state- 
ment to  us  was  that  stealing  gave  him  a  very  peculiar 
pleasure  which  he  could  not  explain,  but  which  he 
would  like  to  have  fathomed. 

Armond  B.,  a  well  developed  boy  of  nearly  sixteen, 
came  most  willingly  to  seek  help  for  his  troubles.  He 
had  not  yet  been  taken  into  court,  although  he  had 
repeatedly  stolen.  Both  he  and  his  family  felt  that 
the  situation  was  getting  desperate.  An  intelligent 
police  officer  referred  them  to  us.  His  delinquencies 
up  to  the  present  had  been  settled  to  the  satisfaction 
of  the  losers,  but  if  he  kept  up  his  thieving,  there  was 
no  telling  how  soon  he  would  be  held  for  trial. 

Armond' s  personal  quahties  showed  no  pecuHarities ; 
one  could  quickly  perceive  him  to  be  frank,  pleasant, 
responsive,  well-mannered,  thoughtful,  and  truthful. 
His  mental  processes  were  notably  simple  and  direct. 
Dealing  as  his  story  did  with  the  subjective  elements 


CONFLICTS  AND   OBSESSIVE   IMAGERY    89 

of  his  life,  he  showed  in  relating  it  no  particular  ego- 
centricism  and  no  approach  to  hypochondria.  He  had 
been  well  brought  up  in  an  unusually  wholesome  family 
environment,  where  only  moderate  means  were  avail- 
able for  the  high  ideals  of  education  which  the  young 
people  set  themselves.  There  had  been  no  deep  con- 
fidences between  him  and  his  relatives,  but  there  was 
much  affection  and  trust  among  them. 

Armond  was  attending  an  educational  institute  of 
high  school  grade,  where  he  was  an  earnest  and  moder- 
ately good  student.  The  mental  tests  he  did  for  us 
showed  nothing  abnormal ;  a  moderate  slowness  of 
wit  indicated  nothing  special,  except  the  fact  that  he 
was  not  unusually  bright.  We  were  interested  to  note 
the  point  that  he  himself  made  concerning  his  own 
learning  ability ;  he  said  he  had  to  see  things  in  order 
to  remember  them  well;  he  tried  to  remember  his 
lessons  as  he  saw  them  on  the  page.  The  ingenuous- 
ness which  Armond  displayed  with  us  was  probably  a 
tribute  to  his  upbringing  in  a  simple-minded  and 
truthful  family ;  it  was  more  than  we  usually  find  with 
adolescents  who  are  physically  matured  beyond  their 
years,  as  he  was. 

Armond  presented  a  very  sound  body  for  examina- 
tion. Nothing  out  of  the  ordinary  was  found  except 
that  he  was  an  excessive  nail  biter,  he  had  a  slight 
defect  of  vision  in  one  eye,  and  he  showed  premature 
sex  characteristics.  With  his  broad,  mature  face,  he 
looked  the  part  of  a  thoroughly  wholesome  and  honest 
young  fellow. 

This  boy  came  from  a  family  on  the  upgrade  in  this 
country;  the  parents  had  been  immigrants.  There 
were  a  number  of  older  brothers  who  had  done  well, 
two  of  them  were  now  religious  workers  in  Y.  M.  C.  A. 


90  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

institutes.  The  only  abnormal  traits  in  the  family  on 
either  side  were  to  be  ascribed  to  alcoholism,  —  there 
had  been  some  of  this  on  each  side,  but  not  in  any 
near  relative.  The  father  himself  earlier  had  been  a 
hard  drinker,  but  he  had  reformed ;  he  was  always 
steady  at  his  work.  In  general,  the  family  may  be 
said  to  be  unusually  God-fearing  and  industrious 
people. 

Armond's  physical  development  had  been  absolutely 
normal  in  all  ways ;  indeed,  the  whole  family  were 
noted  for  their  good  health.  Our  boy  had  gone  to 
school  regularly  and  always  cared,  in  a  slow-going 
way,  for  his  studies.  I  would  again  make  the  point 
that  he  had  been  unusually  well  protected  from  im- 
moral influences  at  home  and  in  the  private  school  to 
which  he  went. 

Armond  said  that  he  was  more  than  willing  to 
thrash  out  with  us,  as  his  mother  desired,  the  tempta- 
tions which  beset  him.  Out  of  his  completed  story, 
we  may  construct  the  following  account  of  the  facts, 
many  of  which  were  verifiable : 

At  about  fourteen  years  Armond  began  going  first 
with  a  boy  by  the  name  of  Emil.  Until  this  time  he 
had  thought  hardly  at  all  about  sex  affairs;  he  had 
not  been  taught  by  bad  companions  about  such  things, 
nor  had  he  been  instructed  at  all  in  these  matters  by 
his  parents.  It  was  already  known  to  the  family  that 
Emil  previously  had  cheated  his  mother  out  of  some 
money  and  was  somewhat  dishonest,  but  they  sup- 
posed he  had  overcome  these  tendencies.  Armond, 
who  was  somewhat  younger,  learned  at  this  age  first 
from  Emil  about  girls  as  objects  of  sexual  attraction 
and  first  heard  about  masturbation.  He  also  found 
out  that  Emil  was  in  the  habit  of  stealing  occasionally. 


CONFLICTS  AND  OBSESSIVE   IMAGERY    91 

At  this  time  the  two  boys  were  together  attending 
meetings  at  church.  Armond  found  a  key  in  church, 
evidently  belonging  to  a  poor-offering  box,  and  Emil 
suggested  opening  the  box.  It  was  this  same  day  or 
very  near  it  that  Emil  stopped  Armond  in  front  of  an 
art  store  and  showed  him  a  well  known,  really  most 
innocent  picture  of  a  young  girl  in  the  nude,  and  told 
him  that  it  made  him  feel  like  masturbating.  The 
boys  did  open  the  box  repeatedly  and  take  money 
from  it  and  spent  it  together.  They  kept  this  up 
until  Armond  was  caught  in  the  act  by  a  church  attend- 
ant. In  the  meantime  this  picture  and  its  association 
with  the  sex  impulse  seized  upon  Armond's  mind.  He 
told  us  that  this  was  what  was  really  the  matter  with 
him.  The  thought  of  this  picture  was  what  he  wanted 
to  get  rid  of,  and  then  perhaps  he  would  not  steal. 
After  talking  a  time  with  us,  it  thus  seemed  to  stand 
out  very  clearly  in  his  mind  that  there  was  much  con- 
nection between  the  two  ideas.  We  asked  for  further 
explanation.  Armond  told  us  that  after  hearing  what 
Emil  said  about  the  picture,  although  this  was  just 
about  the  time  when  he  heard  the  pastor  warn  a  class 
of  boys  against  the  evils  of  bad  sex  habits,  he  began 
practising  masturbation  often  in  his  study  periods 
when  alone  in  the  daytime.  It  occurred  directly  in 
connection  with  his  thought  and  imagery  about  this 
picture ;  in  fact,  the  picture  became  like  a  vision  to  him, 
around  which  he  centered  his  thoughts.  It  flashed  up 
in  his  mind  often  when  he  was  reading.  He  repeatedly 
prayed  that  he  might  be  relieved  of  this  imagery  and 
temptation.  It  was  the  only  picture  that  he  had  ever 
thought  of  in  that  way,  and  he  had  only  seen  it  once, 
there  in  the  shop  window. 

We  were  emphatically  told,  both  by  Armond  and 


92  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

his  family,  that  there  had  been  no  steahng  before  this 
time ;   he  had  never  dreamt  that  it  would  be  possible 
for  him  to  do  such  a  thing.     After  he  was  found  taking 
this  money  in  church,  he  was  closely  guarded  by  his 
family,  and  he  wanted  to  be  so  guarded,  but  they  knew 
nothing    of    his    awakened    sex    thoughts.     His    older 
brothers  frequently   walked  to  school  with  him  and 
came  home  with  him,  that  he  might  be  relieved  of  all 
bad   companionship.     But   he   began   a   lot   of   petty 
stealing.     He  took  sheets  of  paper  and  pens  at  school, 
things  that  he  did  not  need  at  the  time.     He  was  never 
found  out  at  this,  he  did  it  so  slyly.     During  the  vaca- 
tion, he  worked  for  a  few  weeks  in  an  office,  but  he 
resisted  all  temptations  to  steal  while  there.     He  took 
small    moneys    from    his    father's    pockets,    however, 
although  his  parents  had  told  him  always  to  ask  and 
he  would  never  be  refused  spending  money.     On  an- 
other occasion  he  took  some  roller  skates.     The  last 
experience  in  stealing  was  the  one  that  led  to  his  being 
brought  to  us  for  study.     The  analysis  of  this  recent 
event  and  the  mental  processes  which  went  on  before 
it  showed  clearly  the  mental  mechanisms  we  are  dis- 
cussing in  this  volume. 

It  was  Sunday  afternoon.  Armond  had  been  reading 
a  story.  He  had  much  temptation  that  day  to  allow 
the  picture  to  remain  before  his  mind  because  he  was 
alone.  He  resisted  his  sex  impulses  by  ardent  reading. 
Several  times  his  pernicious  mental  imagery  recurred. 
By  evening  he  became  intensely  restless  and  went  out 
for  a  walk.  He  came  to  a  place  where  there  was  a 
little  alley  back  of  a  store.  He  walked  in  there  just 
out  of  curiosity.  He  had  no  idea  of  stealing,  nor  did 
he  go  there  for  any  other  improper  purposes;  it  was 
just  restlessness  that  led  him.     He  saw    a    window 


CONFLICTS  AND   OBSESSIVE   IMAGERY    93 

partially  open  and  a  box  inside  within  reaching  distance. 
He  managed  to  get  hold  of  it  and  experienced  great 
satisfaction  in  doing  so.  Soon  afterwards,  when  it 
was  in  his  possession,  he  felt  alarmed,  but  had  not 
enough  courage  to  replace  the  box.  Even  after  this 
he  remembers  he  had  some  pleasure  or  satisfaction  in 
thinking  of  what  he  had  done,  but  this  rapidly 
diminished.  He  retained  the  money  that  was  in  the 
box  and  threw  the  box  away.  (It  was  a  day  or  two 
after  this  that  his  mother  found  the  extra  money  in 
his  pockets  and  made  him  confess  and  pay  back  to  the 
grocery  store  what  had  been  taken.) 

The  stealing  of  the  roller  skates  occurred  when  he 
was  on  an  errand  after  a  period  when  he  had  been 
alone  and  had  suffered  temptations  to  which  he  had 
partially  given  in.  When  he  entirely  fights  off  his  sex 
impulses,  he  has  the  feeling  as  if  nothing  could  make 
him  pleasant.  He  has  never  told  his  people  about 
this,  because  he  was  afraid  that  his  mother  would 
worry  over  it.  She  is  his  best  friend  in  the  world  ;  he 
does  not  feel  near  to  his  brothers.  This  last  year, 
while  he  has  had  such  temptations,  he  has  not  been 
doing  well  in  his  studies.  The  year  before  he  was  one 
of  the  three  highest  in  his  class.  He  knew  himself,  he 
said,  that  the  main  trouble  with  him  was  sex  thoughts ; 
his  stealing  he  felt  to  be  of  secondary  importance. 
After  the  analysis,  which  was  readily  carried  out  in  a 
couple  of  prolonged  interviews,  Armond  had  clearly 
framed  for  us  the  connection  between  the  two,  and 
without  any  explanation  on  our  part  stated  that  he 
now  saw  it  most  distinctly.  This  was  a  tribute  to  the 
intelligence,  good  will,  and  naivete  of  the  boy.  He 
really  wanted  to  do  better  and  bring  to  the  surface  all 
that  led  him  into  evil  deeds. 


94  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

The  advice  to  be  given  was  plain  enough  in  this  case. 
With  the  boy's  permission  we  called  in  his  most  sym- 
pathetic brother.  Through  this  brother,  success  has 
been  achieved.  Armond  laid  bare  to  him  his  troubles ; 
for  months  afterwards  he  purposely  kept  close  com- 
pany with  people  before  whom  he  would  be  ashamed 
to  exhibit  any  sex  tendencies;  he  placed  his  mind 
more  arduously  on  his  studies,  and  entered  an  institute 
with  the  idea  of  professionally  rendering  religious  serv- 
ice, as  two  older  brothers  had  done  before  him. 

Later  reports  from  Armond  remain  most  satisfac- 
tory, with  never  a  hint  of  more  dishonesty;  he  says 
himself  that  a  year  and  a  half  has  gone  by  without 
his  having  stolen  anything,  and,  while  he  does  not  deny 
sex  temptations,  he  has  reduced  the  pernicious  imagery 
to  a  minimum  and  has  learned  how  to  fight  it,  as  we 
suggested,  by  replacing  it  with  better  mental  pictures. 
The  outcome  is  most  gratifying  to  all  concerned. 

Case  3.  The  obsessional  and  almost  hallucinatory 
force  of  early  improper  acquaintance  with  partially 
understood  vicious  words  is  graphically  shown  in  this 
instance : 

A  boy  of  ten  years,  from  a  very  poor  family,  gave 
much  trouble  on  account  of  smoking,  remaining  away 
from  home  nights,  and  stealing.  Once  he  had  stolen 
sufficient  money  from  a  neighbor  to  buy  clothes  and 
shoes.  He  engaged  also  in  much  lying  and  romancing. 
The  boy  showed  fair  ability,  but  had  suffered  many 
disadvantages  on  account  of  excessively  poor  vision. 
General  development  was  normal.  In  the  background 
there  was  defective  heredity,  the  father  having  been  a 
very  sickly  man  long  before  this  boy  was  born  and  a 
sufferer  from  lead  poisoning,  and  others  in  the  family 


CONFLICTS  AND   OBSESSIVE   IMAGERY    95 

were  subject  to  many  headaches.  The  boy  himself 
had  had  many  children's  diseases  and  frequently  com- 
plained of  headaches. 

This  lad  gave  a  convincing  story  of  mental  conflicts 
and  informed  us  of  more  stealing  escapades  than  the 
mother  herself  knew.  We  afterwards  found  out  that 
these  were  true.  Excerpts  from  our  interviews  will 
give  some  idea  of  his  mental  content.  This  boy  told 
first  of  a  former  companion  who  tried  to  steal  a  purse 
and  who  had  succeeded  in  getting  a  bag  of  pennies 
out  of  the  pocket  of  a  rag-man's  coat.  "That  kid  I 
was  telling  you  about  was  the  first  I  heard  bad  words 
from.  He  was  one  of  the  kids  that  was  in  the  barn 
I  was  telling  you  about,  where  the  rag-man  was.  I 
never  told  mamma  about  him.  His  family  moved 
away  now.  He  would  tell  bad  words  in  the  settle- 
ment house.  I  think  of  these;  that's  how  it  spoils 
me.  I  used  to  tell  bad  words,  but  not  no  more.  When 
a  kid  gets  to  know  these  things,  he  feels  like  saying 
them  out.  I  don't  no  more ;  it  makes  me  sick.  I 
sometimes  feel  like  saying  them,  and  that  makes  me 
feel  bad.  When  I  get  right  up  to  it  and  get  ready  to 
say  them,  I  stop.  ...  If  I  see  a  girl  going  to  the 
store,  I  think  about  what  they  said  about  taking 
money  away.  I  think  of  things.  It  sounds  it;  it 
sounds  it;  it  would  be  words  what  he  said,  those  bad 
words  ;  I  don't  like  to  tell  you  about  them,  I'm  ashamed. 
It  makes  me  think  like  anything  about  bad,  that  does. 
It's  bad  words  he  said,  and  what  he  savs  about  ladies. 
.  .  .  Sure,  it  comes  in  my  mind  about  robbing. 
When  it  first  comes  in  my  mind  to  take  things,  I  get  sort 
of  scared,  and  then  maybe  I  take  it  and  put  it  down  in 
my  hand  like  this,  or  roll  it  up  in  my  sweater  sleeve. 
They  don't  like  me  in  our  house,  my  pa  don't.     The 


96  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

boarders  call  me  a  bum.  The  teachers  say  they  don't 
want  me  because  I  spoil  the  other  boys.  My  father 
he  don't  want  to  have  me  near  him.  ...  I  didn't 
know  what  it  was  to  take  things.  I  started  to  get 
bad  then.  That  boy  used  to  say  all  kinds  of  dirty 
stuff ;  I  went  away  when  he  said  them  things.  I  didn't 
like  to  hear  it  and  I  walked  away.  He  was  a  nasty 
boy." 

From  this  poverty-stricken  home,  so  poor  in  mental 
interests  and  understanding,  so  lacking  in  manage- 
ment as  well  as  in  material  things,  there  was  nothing 
to  be  hoped  for.  This  lad  had  to  be  sent  for  a  long 
period  to  an  institution. 


CHAPTER  VI 
CONFLICTS  CAUSING   IMPELLING   IDEAS 

The  fact  that  mental  conflicts  give  rise  to  impelling 
ideas  is  the  essential  reason  for  mental  analysis  coming 
forward  so  strongly  in  the  practice  and  writings  of 
neurologists  and  psychiatrists.  They  developed  their 
studies  of  cases  symptomatically  presenting  impulsions, 
compulsions,  and  obsessions  (including  the  inhibitive 
phenomena  of  hysteria,  psychasthenia,  etc.)  long 
before  attempt  was  made  to  study,  by  similar  inves- 
tigations of  causations,  impulsions  towards  what  is 
termed  social  offense.  Now,  however,  many  evidential 
facts  have  been  accumulated  which  show  the  same 
type  of  mental  mechanisms  operative  in  this  other 
field. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  indirect  sexual  offenses  show 
impulsions  in  the  most  virulent  form,  but,  as  I  have 
before  stated,  on  page  47,  this  class  of  cases  need  not 
be  included  in  this  discussion  when  so  much  has  already 
been  written  on  that  topic. 

Impelling  ideas  towards  misconduct  following  upon 
mental  conflict  form  a  common  element  in  all  the 
cases  cited,  but  the  two  given  in  this  chapter  are  vivid 
illustrations  of  instances  in  which  the  offender  apper- 
ceived  the  impelling  ideas.  The  reader  will  find  else- 
where among  our  case-histories  much  that  bears  on 
this  point. 

97 


98  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

Case  4.  As  offering  a  thoroughly  ingenuous  account 
of  the  mental  mechanisms  which  produce  misconduct 
from  the  rav^  materials  of  mental  conflict,  the  follow- 
ing case  is  remarkable.  Here  we  have  a  graphic  state- 
ment of  impelling  ideas  immediately  preceding  an  act 
of  misdoing,  given  by  a  young  individual  who  knows 
nothing  of  the  psychological  laws  to  which  her  mental 
experiences  are  witness.  The  case  also  illustrates  the 
fact  that  analysis  alone  is  not  enough ;  it  does  not 
afford  help  sufficient  to  overcome  habits  formed. 
But  we  here  see  wonderfully  well  how  a  considerable 
career  of  stealing  can  be  entirely  checked  through 
utilizing  discoveries  to  be  made  only  by  mental  analysis. 

Beulah  T.  had  stolen  very  frequently  during  a  period 
of  two  years  before  we  saw  her  first  at  eleven  and  one- 
half  years  of  age.  Although  a  most  modest  and 
delicate  appearing  child,  she  had  already  become 
notorious,  in  a  small  way,  for  her  thieving.  She  stole 
from  home,  from  school,  from  shops.  Once  or  twice 
she  had  run  away  for  all  day  following  her  stealing, 
and  she  had,  naturally,  lied  much  about  it.  In  school 
she  had  been  the  source  of  a  great  deal  of  annoyance. 
It  was  found  necessary  to  trace  her  thieving  by  the  use 
of  marked  money.  Much  more  important,  however, 
than  enumerating  her  offenses,  is  our  showing  some 
details  of  the  mental  mechanisms  leading  to  the  stealing. 

We  found  a  girl  of  fair  general  development  and 
nutrition,  with  strabismus  and  defective  vision  in  one 
eye;  she  was  also  suffering  from  a  mild  chronic  otitis 
media.  Examination  and  inquiry  showed  nothing 
else  of  importance. 

On  the  mental  side  Beulah  did  very  well,  indeed, 
in  spite  of  her  handicaps.     Although  immigrated  with 


CONFLICTS   AND   IMPELLING   IDEAS     99 

her  family  only  three  years  previously,  she  was  in  the 
usual  grade  for  her  age  and  stood  well  in  her  classes. 
We  found  her  responsive,  frank,  and  apparently  quite 
normal  in  her  emotions  and  in  every  other  way.  In 
the  ensuing  years  she  has  steadily  advanced  with  her 
classes. 

Beulah's  mother  died  just  before  they  came  to 
America ;  we  obtained  the  child's  history  from  her 
grandmother  and  her  father.  Concerning  her  develop- 
ment, it  appeared  that  there  was  nothing  of  impor- 
tance. She  had  never  been  seriously  ill;  the  otitis 
media  dated  from  a  slight  attack  of  scarlet  fever  the 
previous  year.  There  was  no  reason  to  think  that  she 
had  suffered  in  any  way  from  defective  antenatal  con- 
ditions; birth  was  normal.  She  walked  and  talked 
early  and  always  had  appeared  to  be  a  bright  child. 
Reports  from  school  were  always  favorable  concerning 
scholarship  and  general  deportment.  There  had  never 
been  any  complaints,  except  about  her  stealing,  and 
this  was  quite  beyond  the  understanding  of  her  family, 
who  could  not  see  why  such  a  quiet  and  delicate  little 
child  should  be  a  thief. 

About  heredity  there  was  little  to  relate.  One 
grandfather  had  been  a  deserter  of  his  family ;  beyond 
this  we  got  no  history  whatever  of  mental  defect  or 
peculiarity  in  the  family. 

During  the  course  of  a  number  of  interviews,  we 
obtained  from  Beulah  an  account  of  her  experiences 
and  mental  life  which  was  partially  verified.  We  had 
heard  from  the  relatives  that  there  had  never  been 
any  stealing  until  they  had  gone  to  live  at  a  certain 
place.  We  pursued  our  line  of  inquiry  from  this  as  a 
starting  point.  We  learned  from  Beulah  of  a  boy, 
Sam  R,,  who  went  to  the  same  school  with  her  and 


100  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

who  had  met  Beulah  and  talked  to  her  repeatedly. 
(Sam's  case  was  at  once  investigated  by  a  probation 
officer  who  corroborated  much  that  Beulah  said  about 
the  boy.  Although  never  reported  to  the  police,  he 
was  notorious  among  the  children  of  the  neighborhood 
for  the  type  of  bad  conduct  that  Beulah  described.) 
Before  knowing  Sam,  she  insists,  she  had  never  had 
the  slightest  thought  of  stealing.  "He  said  I  should 
take  things  from  the  store  and  from  teacher,  and  every- 
thing, and  he  said  I  should  call  people  wicked  names ;  I 
never  did  though.  He  told  me  what  names  to  call 
them;  I  never  say  those  names.  Sometimes  I  think 
about  them,  then  I  forget  them  again.  Sometimes  I 
used  to  see  him  roller-skating,  and  sometimes  when  he 
went  to  the  pasture  in  the  prairie  with  the  cow,  with 
the  girl  next  door,  I  would  see  him.  She  is  a  nice  girl. 
She  doesn't  say  bad  words.  Sam  used  to  talk  to  her. 
I  know  he  asked  her  to  go  out  in  the  bushes,  and 
everything  like  that.  He  only  used  to  say  that  to 
her  because  he  knew  she  was  nicer  than  me,  and  he 
liked  her  better.  y 

"He  used  to  say  bad  words  to  me.  I  told  grandma 
that  he  said  bad  words,  and  she  said  I  should  not 
listen  to  them.  No,  she  never  explained  anything. 
I  didn't  understand  them.  He  says  to  her,  'Come  on 
out  in  the  bushes  with  me.'  She  didn't  go.  I  wondered 
what  he  meant.  Girls  never  spoke  to  me  about  it. 
She  says,  'I  wonder  what  that  means,'  and  that  is  all 
she  said.  He  didn't  say  anything  to  me  before  that. 
He  just  told  me  to  steal,  and  like  that.  He  told  me 
a  lot  of  bad  words."  (Beulah  whispered  the  "bad 
words'*  which  this  boy  had  told  her,  and  they  were, 
indeed,  very  bad.)  "He  didn't  tell  me  what  they 
meant.     He  used  to  say,  '  Come  with  me,'  and  I  said. 


CONFLICTS  AND  IMPELLING  IDEAS    101 

*No,'  and  he  said  all  those  words.  I  don't  know  where 
he  wanted  me  to  go. 

"Sometimes  I'd  ask  girls,  and  they  would  say,  'I 
don't  know.'  Sometimes  I  think  about  it,  and  I  won- 
der what  it  means.  When  I  am  in  school  I  think 
about  it,  when  I'm  studying.  That  was  about  a 
year  and  a  half  ago,  that  he  asked  me  to  go  with  him. 
That  girl  said  that  once  he  knocked  her  down  and  was 
going  to  take  off  her  clothes.  She  told  me  that  he 
never  done  anything  bad  to  her.  I  don't  know  what 
he  tried  to  do.  I  saw  him  about  a  week  ago.  He  was 
all  dressed  up  in  a  new  suit,  and  he  had  roller  skates, 
and  everything.  Once  he  ran  away  from  home.  He 
slept  in  a  basement.  I  saw  him  one  night  when  I 
went  to  the  store  to  buy  something  for  my  papa. 
Once  I  ran  away  too.  I  stole  twenty-five  cents,  and 
my  pa  said  I  should  go  to  the  reform  school  if  I  did  it 
again,  and  I  thought  he  said  I  should  go  then,  and  I 
ran  away.  I  was  gone  about  three  hours  in  the  evening. 
I  was  with  some  Italian  people.  I  told  them,  and  they 
said  I  could  stay  by  them." 

Beulah  told  us  much,  in  her  quiet  way,  concerning 
the  astonishing  effect  which  these  words  had  upon  her. 
The  following  is  her  response,  verbatim,  in  reply  to 
our  inquiry  about  how  the  words  came  up  in  her 
mind:  "Sam  said  he  liked  us  best,  and  we  wasn't  to 
say  anything  to  anybody  else.  He  used  to  write  on 
our  sidewalk  bad  words.  Sam  did  this  with  Lillie  — 
that  bad  word.  Sometimes,  when  I  think  about  the 
bad  word  he  said,  I  get  a  headache.  Sometimes,  when 
I  think  about  the  words,  I  feel  as  if  I  wanted  to  take 
things.  I  get  a  headache,  and  then  I  seem  to  have  to 
take  things." 

At  this  point  we  made  a  very  careful  attempt  to 


102  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

analyze  the  last  occasion  of  stealing,  which  had  only 
been  a  week  or  so  previously.  The  whole  events  of 
the  afternoon  at  school  were  gone  over,  and  finally 
the  following  was  obtained:  "I  was  thinking  about 
those  words  when  I  took  money  from  my  teacher. 
My  teacher  was  putting  on  her  hat ;  school  was  over ; 
there  were  just  three  girls  with  me.  I  had  been  think- 
ing about  those  words.  Sometimes,  when  I  am  eating, 
I  think  about  Sam,  and  I  think  I  hear  him  saying 
those  words.  It  was  in  the  afternoon,  we  was  having 
reading  at  three  o'clock ;  we  was  reading  about  a  little 
boy,  and  it  said  'Sam',  and  I  thought  of  Sam  R.,  and 
the  words  he  said,  and  the  teacher's  pocketbook  was 
lying  right  there  when  I  walked  past  afterwards  to  go 
out." 

"My  little  brother  Willie,  he  swears  because  Sam 
learned  him.  When  I  saw  Sam  come,  I  closed  my  ears. 
Since  I  slapped  him,  he  never  says  a  word  to  me  now. 
They  are  not  dirty  girls  I  play  with ;  Helen,  she  is  a 
nice  girl.  I  sometimes  told  my  grandmother  that  Sam 
said  bad  words," 

"Sometimes  I  think  about  what  Sam  said,  but  I 
never  speak  it.  I  never  told  nobody.  I  never  thought 
it  had  anything  to  do  with  babies.  I  don't  know  what 
he  meant  by  that  word.  I  know  what  he  tried  to  do 
with  Lillie,  that's  all  I  know.  I  don't  know  about 
little  babies.  I  have  asked  lots  of  people,  and  they 
won't  tell.  I  asked  my  auntie,  both  my  aunts,  I  asked 
my  papa,  I  asked  my  grandmother,  I  asked  the  mid- 
wife, and  they  won't  tell  me.  I  asked  because  my 
aunt  had  a  little  baby  nearly  a  year  old,  I  asked  her, 
and  she  said,  'I  won't  tell  you.'  ...  I  like  It  better 
in  the  old  country,  there  are  not  so  many  bad  boys 
around;    but  I  like  school  here,  they  don't  give  you 


CONFLICTS  AND   IMPELLING   IDEAS     103 

whippings.     I  want  to  stay  at  home,  I  don't  want  to 
go  in  another  home." 

The  attitude  of  this  family  towards  Beulah's  needs, 
as  expressed  by  their  lack  of  response  to  her  repeated 
questioning,  was  significant  of  what  was  to  be  expected 
of  them.  They  were  totally  incapable  of  understand- 
ing the  situation  and  dealing  with  it  along  the  lines  we 
suggested,  although  they  were  good  enough  people  in 
their  way.  Beulah  did  very  well  for  a  few  weeks,  and 
then  the  complaint  was  made  that  she  was  steaHng 
again,  so  she  was  sent  away  from  the  scene  of  her  old 
associations  to  a  very  good  school  for  girls,  where  she 
remained  for  a  year.  Her  conduct  there  was  beyond 
reproach.  It  is  almost  five  years  since  this  last  steal- 
ing on  the  part  of  Beulah,  and  not  a  further  word  of 
complaint  has  been  brought  against  her.  The  report, 
even  from  the  grandmother,  who  early  found  her  so 
incorrigible,  is  that  Beulah  now  gives  no  trouble  in 
any  way. 

Case  5.  The  misconduct  of  a  neuropathic  little  boy 
included  a  serious  delinquency  —  he  repeatedly  drove 
off  horses  with  vehicles  left  hitched  on  the  street. 
This  form  of  theft  was  his  besetting  temptation, 
although  he  experienced  little  pleasure  and  sometnnes 
pimishment  in  connection  with  it.  The  peculiar  basis 
of  his  impulse  became  clear  upon  analysis. 

Jeddy  N.,  a  little  less  than  twelve  years  old,  was 
much  complained  of  by  his  mother  and  by  the  school 
people  on  account  of  his  general  mischievousness  and 
uncontrollability.  This  behavior,  however,  was  largely 
to  be  accounted  for  by  his  nervous  conditions.  A 
much  more  important  event  had  brought  him  into  the 
hands  of  the  police.     As  his  mother  put  it,  "he  had  a 


104  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

mania  for  stealing  horses  and  buggies."  On  several 
occasions  he  had  driven  away  horses  belonging  to 
business  men,  causing  much  annoyance.  He  had 
been  taken  to  the  police  station  already  four  times  on 
account  of  this,  and  the  other  times  he  either  had  not 
been  caught  or  had  been  allowed  to  go  home.  Further 
details  about  these  delinquencies  appear  later. 

Jeddy  had  been  suspended  more  than  once  from 
school  on  account  of  his  restless,  bad  behavior.  He  was 
said  to  be  mischievous  in  general  and  dishonest  in 
several  ways.  Other  boys  could  easily  lead  him. 
The  nervous  foundation  for  this  was  recognized  by  all, 
but  because  he  disturbed  others  so  much,  he  could 
not  be  tolerated  in  school.  The  same  situation  ob- 
tained at  home,  where  the  mother  says  he  is  a  great 
torment  and  cannot  be  controlled  unless  she  gives  up 
all  of  her  time  to  him ;  there  is  a  large  family,  and  this 
is  quite  impossible. 

We  found  a  poorly  developed  boy  of  twelve  years, 
weighing  only  seventy-three  pounds.  Vision  about 
half  normal  in  one  eye  and  normal  in  the  other. 
Specialist's  report :  no  glasses  needed.  Many  carious 
teeth.  Bites  nails  excessively.  Thyroid  slightly  en- 
larged. Quick,  jerky,  and  incoordinate  movements  of 
outstretched  hands  and  tongue.  At  times  these  move- 
ments are  seen  extending  to  the  shoulders  and  head ; 
on  other  occasions  we  find  the  movements  almost 
absent.  Beginning  bilateral  inguinal  hernia.  Scar 
and  evidence  of  bone  involvement  from  injury  in  the 
occipital  region.  Examination  otherwise  negative. 
Extreme  dolichocephalic  type ;  circumference  of  head, 
52.4  centimeters,  length  19.5  centimeters,  breadth  14 
centimeters.  Shape  of  the  head,  together  with  his 
prominent  eyes,  give  the  boy  a  most  peculiar  appearance. 


CONFLICTS  AND   IMPELLING   IDEAS     105 

On  the  mental  side  we  soon  saw  that  we  had  to  do 
with  a  somewhat  abnormal  individual.  This  boy  has 
been  repeatedly  studied  by  us,  and  our  final  diagnosis 
remains  the  same  as  at  first,  namely,  that  Jeddy  is  to 
be  regarded  as  mildly  aberrational,  with  some  element 
of  dullness,  probably  from  physical  causes.  He  may 
be  suffering  from  the  psychosis  of  chorea,  but  there  are 
several  elements  in  the  case  which  make  it  diflicult  to 
be  sure  of  this.  His  mental  peculiarities  are  evidenced 
on  tests  as  well  as  on  general  behavior.  The  Binet 
(1911  series)  record  gives  but  little  suggestion  of  the 
trouble.  He  does  all  of  the  nine-year  tests  correctly ; 
all  of  the  ten-year,  except  that  he  fails  on  half  of  the 
second  test;  he  does  only  the  first  two  of  the  twelve- 
year  tests. 

This  brings  him  quite  to  grade,  for  he  is  not  yet 
twelve  years  old.  On  tests  involving  control,  either 
mental  or  psychomotor,  he  does  poorly,  indeed.  His 
reactions  on  the  opposites  test  vary  greatly.  The 
tapping  test  shows  his  extreme  difficulty  in  controlling 
his  finer  movements.  He  is  easily  fatigued ;  probably 
that  is  the  reason  he  gives  only  forty-five  words  in  three 
minutes  in  the  Binet  test.  His  performance  on  numer- 
ous other  tests  shows  the  same  characteristics ;  where 
no  prolonged  effort  is  required  of  him,  where  no  great 
amount  of  attention  is  brought  into  play,  the  boy  can 
do  fairly  well.  During  any  sitting  he  yawns  frequently 
and  shows  his  fatigue.  While  actually  at  work,  he 
bites  his  finger  nails  nervously.  His  attitude  and  con- 
versation are  normal  and  intelligent.  In  going  over 
his  story  with  him  on  numerous  occasions,  we  note 
coherency  up  to  the  point  that  mental  effort  is  re- 
quired. If  it  is  a  question  of  putting  his  mind  upon 
actual  times  and  places  difficult  to  remember,  he  fails, 


106  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

but  about  his  general  apperceptions  of  bis  own  career 
being  clear,  there  is  no  question.  Fortunately  for  the 
scientific  aspects  of  the  case,  we  were  able  to  get  much 
corroboration  of  his  story  from  the  mother.  During 
the  last  year  there  has  been  a  tendency  towards  im- 
provement, but  all  that  should  have  been  done  for  the 
boy  was  never  done,  and  then  there  has  arisen  the 
problem  of  possible  effect  of  bad  habits.  In  a  general 
way  the  case  is  easy  of  diagnosis.  The  boy  shows 
psychotic  tendencies,  chiefly  characterized  by  a  great 
lack  of  control. 

Developmental  history  runs  as  follows :  The  mother 
was  well  during  this  pregnancy;  the  family  circum- 
stances were  fairly  good  and  she  was  not  troubled. 
Birth  was  at  full  term,  but  was  very  difficult.  Child 
weighed  twelve  pounds  and  it  was  a  dry  birth.  Earliest 
infancy  fairly  normal.  At  two  years  bronchitis  and 
whooping  cough.  Walked  and  talked  at  about  two 
years,  but  slower  than  the  others  in  walking.  For 
several  years  has  been  a  restless  child.  Talks  much 
in  his  sleep.  Adenoids  and  tonsils  removed  a  couple 
of  years  ago.  Nervousness  developed  so  that  he  was 
not  only  treated  at  home  for  his  jerkings  and  twitch- 
ings,  but  was  also  sent  to  a  hospital  on  account  of  this. 
There  he  remained  for  a  week  previous  to  our  first  see- 
ing him.  Diagnosis  was  that  he  had  a  mild  case  of 
chorea.  The  boy  is  said  to  have  dropped  things  fre- 
quently. A  few  years  ago  he  was  struck  by  a  street 
car  on  the  back  of  the  head,  but  came  running  home 
by  himself,  and  it  did  not  seem  to  affect  him  in  any 
way ;  in  fact,  he  has  been  in  slight  accidents  two  or 
three  times.  Started  to  school  at  the  regular  age,  but  on 
account  of  his  nervousness  has  made  little  progress  and 
was  most  of  the  time  in  a  subnormal  room  and  changed 


CONFLICTS  AND   IMPELLING   IDEAS     107 

about  a  great  deal.  His  mother  helps  him  in  his  school 
work  at  home ;  he  rattles  off  a  page  from  memory, 
but  does  not  seem  to  take  in  the  sense  of  things.  Only 
been  to  third  grade  successfully.  Has  been  to  several 
clinics.  His  mother  reports  that  for  years  he  has 
been  the  most  difficult  individual  to  manage ;  she  may 
warn  him  and  scold  him,  and  yet  in  an  hour  he  is 
found  in  more  mischief.  Seems  to  have  considerable 
musical  ability.  Gets  along  pretty  well  with  other 
members  of  his  family.  Is  much  teased  on  account  of 
his  peculiar  looks,  and  yet  others  readily  lead  him. 

Family  history  was  given  in  sufficient  fullness. 
There  seem  to  have  been  no  mental  defect  of  importance 
on  either  side,  and  no  cases  of  insanity  or  of  nervous 
disease.  Father  is  alcoholic  to  a  certain  extent,  but  is 
never  abusive  or  quarrelsome ;  supports  his  family. 
There  are  seven  children  alive ;  two  are  dead,  and 
there  have  been  a  number  of  miscarriages.  The  child 
next  younger  than  Jeddy  is  small  for  her  age  and  only 
in  second  grade  at  ten  years.  These  are  the  only  two 
that  seem  backward. 

For  scientific  interest,  it  should  be  stated  that  the 
story  about  the  mental  conflict  in  this  case  came  out  of 
a  clear  sky.  We  were  not  expecting  it,  and,  indeed, 
not  looking  for  it  particularly.  At  the  time  when  we 
first  saw  Jeddy,  our  attention  was  entirely  taken  up 
with  his  physical  and  mental  peculiarities,  as  ascer- 
tainable through  the  usual  routine  examinations.  At 
that  time  we  strongly  advised  that  the  boy  be  sent  to 
live  in  the  country  on  account  of  his  general  poor  con- 
ditions. It  was  after  this  little  fellow  had  been  brought 
in  on  complaint  of  his  mother,  some  four  months  later, 
that  we  heard  of  some  curious  sex  behavior  through 
other  boys  under  detention.     He  had  nearly  stripped 


108  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

one  little  boy  of  his  clothes  and  evidently  was  about 
to  engage  in  some  form  of  perversion  with  him.  We 
saw  him  in  numerous  interviews  after  this,  when  he 
always  met  us  in  the  friendly  fashion  that  he  had  done 
previously.  Even  in  conversation  he  easily  became 
fatigued,  and  talked  generally  in  short,  jerky  sentences. 
His  story  was  told  as  if  he  were  about  eight  or  nine 
years  old ;  it  was  never  clear  at  first,  but  upon  ques- 
tioning, it  gained  coherency.  We  were  utterly  sur- 
prised to  have  him  without  equivocation  connect  sex 
affairs  with  his  stealing.  It  would  be  a  long  story  to 
tell  all  that  he  said  that  was  to  the  point,  but  the  follow- 
ing is  the  gist  of  it : 

A  year  ago  or  more,  it  was  in  the  summer,  he  was 
looking  at  some  pictures  outside  of  a  show,  when  a 
man  with  a  horse  and  buggy  called  from  the  opposite 
side  of  the  street  for  him  to  come  over  and  go  for  a 
ride.  They  rode  some  distance,  as  far  as  South  Park. 
This  man  put  his  hand  on  Jeddy  in  sexual  fashion  for 
quite  a  long  time  in  the  buggy,  but  although  he  exposed 
himself,  Jeddy  did  nothing  in  return.  Jeddy  claims 
never  to  have  done  anything  of  the  sort  before  nor  to 
have  known  of  such  things.  This  was  when  he  first 
learned.  He  maintained,  also,  that  he  never  even 
attempted  to  engage  in  such  practices  with  another 
until  the  affair  with  the  boy  under  detention.  But  the 
experiences  with  the  man  made  him  feel  like  doing 
things  to  himself,  and  he  had  been  masturbating  every 
couple  of  days. 

When  Jeddy  first  told  us  of  this  man,  we  asked  him 
if  he  had  ever  stolen  a  horse  previous  to  that  experience. 
In  boyish  fashion  he  told  us  that  he  guessed  he  had. 
He  had  stolen  a  pony  before  that.  But  as  the  analysis 
developed,  he  said  that  he  wanted  to  change  that  state- 


CONFLICTS  AND   IMPELLING   IDEAS     109 

merit ;  long  before  the  pony  was  taken,  he  rode  in  the 
buggy  with  the  stranger.  (Fortunately,  we  were  able 
to  get  exact  data  from  the  mother  on  these  points,  and 
it  came  out  clearly  that  the  experience  with  the  man 
preceded  all  stealing  of  horses.)  Jeddy  told  us  rather 
vaguely  in  our  first  interview  about  considerable  steal- 
ing of  horses.  His  mother  knew  all  about  that,  he 
said,  but  she  knew  nothing  about  this  man.  He  had 
never  told  anybody  before. 

After  gaining  the  information  about  his  acquaint- 
ance with  the  man  in  the  buggy,  we  got  Jeddy  to  give 
us  as  good  a  description  as  possible  of  his  own  mental 
attitude  towards  the  stealing.  It  was  a  comparatively 
simple  task  in  analysis  to  get  the  following : 

"When  I  see  a  horse  and  buggy,  then  I  think  of  that 
man.  I  used  to  sit  down  and  think  then,  maybe.  I'd 
be  sort  of  nervous.  .  .  .  Sometimes  I'd  walk  away, 
and  I  would  walk  straight  home.  I  would  say,  'Your 
mother  told  you  not  to  steal  no  more.'  ...  It  would 
make  me  feel  like  doing  what  he  did."  This  last  sen- 
tence was  in  response  to  our  inquiry  as  to  how  he  felt 
when  he  saw  a  horse  and  buggy  standing  on  the  street. 
He  then  again  insisted  that  the  first  time  he  had  ever 
experienced  sexual  feelings  was  when  he  was  in  the 
buggy  with  the  strange  man. 

Concerning  what  occurs  when  he  is  driving  a  horse 
and  buggy  after  having  stolen  it:  "I  feel  nervous." 
(Excited?)  "Sure.  Sometimes  I'd  drop  the  lines 
and  think  of  something;  think  that  maybe  the  man 
that  owned  it  was  coming,  and  then  I'd  get  out.  .  .  . 
Sure,  I'd  think  of  that  man  when  I  was  driving.  That 
man  was  the  one  who  told  me  about  stealing  a  horse 
and  buggy.  ...  He  said  he  had  got  the  rig  west 
some  place ;  said  he  had  stole  it ;   said  he  was  going  to 


110  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

take  it  away  out  somewhere ;  he  said  he  was  going  to 
get  another  one  and  hitch  on  back  of  it."  Jeddy's 
mind  reverting  to  my  former  question  about  his  feel- 
ings when  he  saw  a  rig  unoccupied  on  the  street,  he 
said,  "Sometimes  I'd  see  a  horse  and  buggy  and  I 
would  start  running." 

Speaking  about  the  time  he  was  left  in  South  Park, 
he  tells  us  that  it  was  at  night,  and  that  he  was  extremely 
nervous.  "I  was  all  in.  I  was  tired,  and  the  con- 
ductor gave  me  a  ride  home  on  the  car."  (Why  so 
tired.'*)  "Because  he  was  monkeying  with  me.  I 
was  nervous  in  the  buggy."  The  boy  then  reiterates 
that  he  is  always  nervous  and  excited  when  he  drives 
off  by  himself.  (There  is  great  interest  in  the  fact  that 
before  the  mother  knew  of  this,  I  asked  her  to  describe 
his  homecoming  on  this  night,  the  first  time  he  was 
ever  away  from  home  late,  and  she  remembered  how 
worn  out  and  nervous  and  excited  and  peculiar  he 
seemed.  She  could  place  the  time  of  this  affair  together 
with  that  of  his  later  stealing  escapades  very  clearly 
for  us,  so  that  to  a  great  extent  there  was  corroboration 
of  what  the  boy  had  told.) 

Speaking  further  about  his  temptation,  although  he 
does  not  know  what  this  word  means,  Jeddy  tells  us : 
"Sometimes  I  get  crazy  spells,  and  I  go  and  get  a 
horse  and  buggy.  Sometimes  it  makes  you  feel  like 
you  ain't  going  to  bring  the  horse  and  buggy  back. 
Then  sometimes  I  am  going  along  when  I  see  a  horse 
and  buggy,  and  I  walk  away.  Maybe  I  think  a  while 
and  say,  'Oh,  no,'  and  walk  away.  Sometimes  I  think 
of  that  man  when  I  see  a  horse  and  buggy." 

Jeddy  likes  to  drive  a  horse.  There  is  a  nice  peddler, 
whom  he  sometimes  goes  with,  who  lets  him  drive  his 
horse,  and  his  father  has  sometimes  taken  him  on  his 


CONFLICTS  AND   IMPELLING   IDEAS     111 

wagon,  "so  I  would  not  be  stealing."  Crying  in  very 
normal  fashion  Jeddy  says  he  wants  to  go  home.  "I 
think  if  I'd  go  home,  I  would  never  go  stealing  no 
more." 

The  police  had  caught  Jeddy  a  number  of  times. 
With  one  exception,  he  always  took  the  horse  and  buggy 
when  he  was  alone.  On  the  occasion  when  he  was  in 
the  "X"  Street  Police  Station,  he  had  been  with  other 
boys.  "I  just  was  breaking  myself  of  that  stealing, 
and  some  other  boy  said  something  about  it.  The 
judge  said  he  would  put  me  away."  But  on  other 
occasions  Jeddy  has  driven  for  a  time  and  then  got  out 
and  left  the  rig.  He  told  us  about  once  driving  a  horse 
a  large  share  of  one  day,  and  then  he  put  it  into  an 
alley  and  went  home.  The  next  morning  he  sneaked 
around  to  see  if  it  was  there  and,  sure  enough,  it  was, 
so  he  drove  it  that  day  also,  and  then  finally  left  it 
without  getting  caught. 

As  we  often  do  with  young  children,  we  had  a  final 
interview  with  the  mother  and  the  boy  together ;  that 
was  after  she  had  given  us  her  corroborative  facts, 
which  included  certain  times  when  the  older  brother 
had  suspected  this  boy  of  engaging  in  bad  sex  habits. 
He  came  home  looking  so  queer,  with  his  eyes  all 
bloodshot ;  they  had  asked  him  about  it,  but  he  had 
always  denied  it.  Jeddy  had  never  stolen  anything 
before  this  affair  with  the  man,  except  that  in  a  childish 
way  he  had  taken  apples  and  other  things  to  eat. 
Even  as  a  little  boy  he  had  always  been  fond  of  horses. 
With  us  he  told  his  mother  that  he  had  never  felt  like 
informing  her  about  this  man.  He  frankl}^  went  over 
the  whole  sex  affair  with  no  variation  from  what  he 
had  told  us,  and  it  became  clear  that  the  brother's 
suspicions  were  correct. 


112  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

The  relationship  between  the  sex  matter  and  this 
remarkable  stealing  was  apparent  even  to  the  mother. 
No  one  could  doubt  the  mental  conflict  and  the  mental 
repression  that  had  gone  on  in  this  boy's  mind,  and 
that  the  strange  impulse  to  a  serious  delinquency,  such 
as  any  ordinary  boy,  to  say  nothing  of  this  puny  little 
fellow,  would  hesitate  to  indulge  in,  was  developed  on 
a  strong  emotional  basis,  namely,  his  first  sex  affair. 
Except  for  our  exploration  and  enlisting  the  mother's 
better  understandings  of  the  problem,  nothing  more 
was  now  undertaken  than  had  been  done  previously 
when  the  boy  had  been  taken  in  by  the  police.  Indeed, 
this  time  he  did  not  go  before  any  judge. 

A  year  has  elapsed,  and  there  has  been  no  further 
trouble  with  this  boy  stealing,  but  his  nervous  condi- 
tion has  excluded  him  from  the  schools,  and  there  have 
not  been  sufficient  funds  in  the  family  to  get  him 
properly  placed.  The  educational  and  neurological 
outcome  of  the  case  is  still  problematic.  Even  our 
earliest  recommendation,  namely,  that  he  five  a  quiet 
life  in  the  country,  was  never  carried  out. 


CHAPTER  VII 

CRIMINAL    CAREERS    DEVELOPED    FROM 

CONFLICTS 

It  can  readily  be  shown  what  happens  in  some  in- 
stances when  conflicts  which  create  misconduct  tend- 
encies are  not  faced  with  courage  and  discernment. 
For  the  vahd  reasons  given  at  length  in  Chapter  III, 
we  have  refrained  from  commencing  studies  of  cases 
when  careers  of  misdoing  have  been  already  carried 
beyond  years  of  adolescence.  The  safer  way  for  us, 
we  felt,  was  to  begin  with  younger  people  when  we 
could  obtain  verification  of  facts  incident  to  the  be- 
ginning of  mental  conflict,  and  with  this  foundation 
of  knowledge  watch  the  future  developments.  Un- 
fortunately, even  after  our  early  discovery  of  some 
special  mental  conflict,  through  family  ineptitude  or 
failure  on  the  part  of  social  agencies  or  of  enterprises 
established  under  the  law,  the  career  in  some  instances 
was  not  checked.  Two  examples  of  such  long  con- 
tinuance of  tendency  to  misconduct  are  offered. 
(Case  12  may  also  be  profitably  read  in  this  connec- 
tion.) The  lessons  that  these  case-histories  convey 
are  obvious,  particularly  when  they  are  compared 
with  records  of  similar  beginnings  where  tendencies 
already  demonstrated  and  perhaps  active  over  a 
considerable  time  have  been  completely  arrested. 
(Suggestions  of  many  practical  points  in  this  con- 
ns 


114  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

nection  are  to  be  found  in  the  accounts  of  successful 
Cases  2,  9,  20,  22,  25,  30,  31.) 

Case  6.  A  definite  beginning  of  a  long  career  of 
delinquency  is  known  in  the  following  case  to  have 
occurred  with  an  event  that  had  solely  to  do  with  the 
inner  mental  life.  Through  our  first  study,  which 
was  made  shortly  after  this  beginning,  there  is  an 
understanding  of  the  case  which,  perhaps,  never  could 
have  been  obtained,  at  least  so  clearly,  in  later  years. 

Royal  M.,  when  only  twelve  years  of  age,  had 
already  been  arrested  twice,  in  two  neighboring  States. 
Immediately  after  the  last  escapade,  he  was  brought  to 
us  by  his  father  with  the  inquiry,  "What  in  the  world 
can  be  the  matter  with  my  boy  ?  He  has  been  re- 
peatedly stealing  and  running  away  from  home." 

Now,  six  years  later,  this  boy's  record  includes  a 
long  list  of  offenses  and  many  remarkable  incidents. 
The  most  striking  thing  to  me  about  Royal's  career 
is  the  amount  of  suffering  which  he  has  gone  through 
and  the  repetition  of  delinquency  which  has  invariably 
led  to  more  suffering.  Since  his  first  two  thefts,  no 
very  serious  stealing  had  been  engaged  in  until  re- 
cently, when,  far  from  home  and  penniless,  he,  with 
another  young  fellow,  attempted  to  rob  a  store.  He 
was  caught  and  sent  to  a  reformatory  in  New  York. 
But  during  those  intervening  years  he  has  repeatedly 
run  away  from  home,  even  in  winter,  and  made  his 
way  about  the  country  as  best  he  could.  Earlier  he 
was  an  excessive  truant.  Through  leading  this  kind 
of  life,  he  has,  of  course,  indulged  in  much  lying  and 
deception,  and  his  people  have  been  terribly  worried 
by  his  conduct. 

From  time  to  time,  as  we  have  seen  him,  we  have 


CAREERS  DEVELOPED  FROM  CONFLICTS  115 

obtained  clear  evidences  of  intense  turmoil  going  on 
within,  only  half  framed  in  consciousness,  but  so 
deeply  felt  that  it  frequently  impelled  him  to  action. 
Even  the  slightest  reflection  would  have  made  clear 
to  him  how  inimical  such  action  must  inevitably  be 
to  his  ultimate  well-being  and  even  to  his  immediate 
comfort. 

At  twelve  years  Royal  was  just  fairly  developed 
physically.  A  slightly  lowered  auditory  acuity  in  one 
ear  was  the  only  evidence  of  sensory  defect.  Complete 
examination  showed  otherwise  no  abnormality.  He 
was  a  bright,  boyish,  loose-jointed  type,  with  a  round 
face  and  a  frank,  open  expression. 

The  general  report  was  that  Royal  was  a  distinctly 
bright  boy.  What  he  accomplished  on  tests  at  any 
given  time,  we  found  depended  very  largely  upon  his 
mental  attitude.  He  was  clearly  one  of  those  cases 
where  interpretation  of  test  results  requires  taking 
into  account  the  mood  of  the  individual.  The  same 
was  true  about  his  school  career  after  his  delinquencies 
began ;  it  was  stated  that  the  boy  was  bright  when 
he  wanted  to  be.  Some  employers  have  found  him  a 
good  worker.  The  reformatory  superintendent  writes 
that  he  considers  him  a  very  gifted  fellow  in  many 
respects.  We  have  noted  that  tests  done  at  different 
times  vary  somewhat,  evidently  according  to  his  re- 
action to  the  individual  giving  the  tests,  or  according 
to  his  mood  of  the  day.  Judged  fairly  by  his  best 
results  on  tests,  there  is  no  doubt  that  Royal  can  be 
classified  as  a  boy  of  fair  innate  mental  ability. 

Concerning  his  development,  we  learned  from  the 
intelligent  father  that  pregnancy  was  entirely  normal. 
There  was  a  prolonged  labor,  but  no  evidences  of 
damage,  and  infancy  was  entirely  healthy,  notwith- 


116  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

standing  some  months  of  early  artificial  feeding.  He 
began  to  walk  and  talk  at  an  early  age,  and  in  all  of 
his  life,  up  to  the  time  when  we  first  saw  him,  he  had 
no  serious  ailments.  His  functions  in  all  ways  were 
normally  controlled ;  he  has  suffered  from  no  acci- 
dents ;  he  has  indulged  in  no  bad  habits  to  any  con- 
siderable extent.  In  the  years  characterized  by  his 
delinquent  tendencies.  Royal  has  suffered  greatly  from 
exposure,  underfeeding,  and  illnesses  which  were  the 
result  of  his  penniless  wanderings  for  weeks  together. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  Royal  comes  from  exceedingly 
good  stock  on  his  father's  side,  and  that  from  his 
mother  he  may  have  derived  certain  peculiar  mental 
traits.  Hypersensitiveness,  a  tendency  to  jealousy, 
with  some  erratic  conduct  otherwise,  seems  to  have 
characterized  her  family.  Several  members  are  said 
to  have  cordially  hated  each  other,  and  many  family 
quarrels  occurred  as  the  result  of  temperamental 
difficulties.  All  this  comes  out  very  strongly  in  such 
history  of  the  family  as  is  obtainable,  although  no  one 
is  known  to  have  exhibited  anything  like  the  delinquent 
traits  that  Royal  has  shown.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
Royal's  mother  was  rather  an  exceptionally  bright 
young  woman,  and  his  father  has  maintained  a  reputa- 
tion for  intelligence  and  ability. 

Our  main  interest  in  this  case  centers  around  the 
facts  pertaining  to  the  mental  and  moral  development 
of  this  boy.  It  is  here  clearly  shown  that  important 
phases  of  the  inner  life  may  be  affected  by  acquirement 
of  emotion-producing  knowledge,  without  any  change 
having  taken  place  in  external  conditions  of  life.  To 
bear  out  this  point,  I  must  insist  that  the  family  environ- 
ment all  along  has  been  decidedly  good.  The  mother 
is  a  very  good-natured  woman,   who   has   attempted 


CAREERS  DEVELOPED  FROM  CONFLICTS  117 

in  a  thoroughly  rational  way  to  be  the  right  kind  of 
a  mother  to  Royal ;  she  was  this  before  his  delin- 
quent career  began,  and  she  has  made  many  kindly 
efforts  to  meet  his  difficulties  since  that  time.  I 
must  also  make  it  clear  that  up  to  a  very  definite 
time,  namely,  when  this  boy  was  eleven  and  one-half 
years  old,  his  behavior  was  normal  in  every  way.  We 
have  repeatedly  had  this  stated  to  us,  and  the  boy 
himself  perceives  that  his  character  underwent  a 
change  then ;   he  has  told  us  this  many  times. 

In  the  good  account  which  we  received  of  his  early 
years,  there  was  nothing  that  indicated  him  to  be 
out  of  the  ordinary.  He  was  prone  to  change  his 
interests  rapidly  from  one  thing  to  another,  he  was 
playful  in  school  instead  of  inclined  to  study,  not 
over  affectionate,  rather  sensitive  about  the  way  he 
was  treated  by  other  boys,  who  really  did  handle 
him  pretty  roughly  because  he  was  not  specially 
athletic. 

When  we  first  saw  him,  complaints  had  been  piling 
up  for  a  few  months.  "Something  has  come  over 
the  boy,"  his  parents  stated.  Not  only  had  he  lately 
stolen  on  two  occasions  considerable  amounts  of 
money  —  home  savings  —  and  run  away  to  other 
towns,  but  for  some  time  he  had  seemed  to  have  no 
ambition  to  work,  either  in  school  or  about  the  house ; 
he  had  appeared  very  greedy  at  the  table,  would 
never  say  please;  he  could  not  be  trusted  with  the 
younger  children  because  of  his  misbehavior  toward 
them;  "he  would  seem  to  get  mad  and  sore  over 
being  scolded."  They  had  found  that  he  had  told 
boys  in  school,  some  days  before  he  went,  that  he 
was  going  to  steal  money  and  leave  home.  The 
effect  of  punishment  during  these  months  had  been 


118  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

almost  nil;  the  next  day  he  would  repeat  the  same 
offenses. 

Somewhat  later  Royal  became  a  confirmed  truant 
and  had  twice  to  be  sent  to  the  school  for  truants. 
At  one  time  he  was  found  selling  small  articles  about 
town,  representing  himself  as  an  orphan.  He  also 
engaged  in  much  lying  and  complaining  about  the 
way  he  was  treated  in  general.  This  went  on  al- 
ternately with  the  spasmodic  flights  from  home, 
which  we  have  mentioned  above,  and  which  lasted 
for  weeks  or  months  at  a  time.  On  several  occasions 
he  was  found  in  farming  districts,  or  in  small  towns, 
having  been  picked  up  by  the  police  as  a  vagrant. 
On  more  than  one  occasion  we  have  seen  him  when 
he  has  been  returned  suffering  greatly  from  lack  of 
food  and  general  exposure ;  once  we  saw  him  after 
he  had  been  without  food  for  three  days,  a  miserable 
and  pathetic  specimen.  From  being  out  in  all  weathers, 
he  had  an  acute  attack  of  rheumatism.  Just  after  he 
had  been  nursed  back  to  health,  he  ran  away  again  from 
his  home.  Through  his  father  and  by  virtue  of  the 
good  impression  he  makes,  he  obtained  many  jobs,  but 
would  stick  to  none  of  them  for  more  than  a  few  weeks 
at  a  time  when  he  was  living  at  home.  Before  his 
offense  in  New  York  State,  his  whereabouts  had  been 
unknown  for  several  months. 

The  very  fact  of  there  being  a  special  time  when 
this  boy  began  his  delinquencies  in  such  force  made 
us  suspect  some  experience  that  the  parents  knew 
nothing  about.  We  found  the  boy  very  hard  to  deal 
with  for  a  considerable  period ;  he  showed  the  same 
attitude  to  us  that  he  did  to  his  father,  but  one  day 
he  blurted  out,  "He's  a  liar,  and  she's  a  liar,  and  they 
are  all  liars,  and  I  am  going  to  be  bad  if  I  want  to  be." 


CAREERS  DEVELOPED  FROM  CONFLICTS  119 

This  statement  was  what  was  needed  to  give  us  an 
opening  due;  from  this  the  boy  by  skillful  guidance 
was  led  to  analyze  his  motive  and  conduct.  It  ap- 
peared that  several  months  previously  a  meddlesome 
neighbor  had  suddenly  told  him  that  the  woman 
whom  he  had  always  thought  to  be  his  mother  was 
not  his  mother;  that  the  latter  had  died  soon  after 
he  was  born,  and  the  younger  children  were  not  his 
brothers  and  sisters. 

These  facts  later  proved  true.  When  the  child  was 
three  months  of  age,  a  terrible  accident  occurred,  in 
which  his  mother,  standing  near  him,  was  instantly 
killed,  but  no  harm  was  done  the  infant ;  the  father, 
upon  our  inquiry,  now  stated  that,  needing  some  one 
to  bring  up  his  infant,  he  had  soon  married  again  a 
thoroughly  good  woman.  For  eight  years  or  so  they 
had  had  no  children,  but  now  there  were  others  added 
to  the  household.  Every  evidence  of  Royal's  real 
parentage  had  been  destroyed  in  order  that  there 
might  not  be  any  friction  about  the  stepmother; 
the  father  dreaded  this  and  thought  it  best  to  let  the 
lad  grow  up  in  total  ignorance  of  the  true  facts,  and 
it  was  really  not  until  he  was  almost  twelve  that  Royal 
had  any  suspicion  regarding  his  parentage. 

A  most  ingenuous  account  was  given  by  the  boy : 
*'I  was  so  sore  that  I  got  terribly  red  and  hot.  The 
next  day  I  went  to  that  woman's  house  again,  and 
she  started  to  tell  me  again,  and  I  wouldn't  go  there 
no  more.  ...  I  want  to  be  a  bad  bov  —  I  would 
rather  live  in  a  shed  than  there  at  home." 

This  boy,  who,  until  a  short  time  ago,  had  always 
been  truthful,  fond  of  home,  and  devoted  to  his  sup- 
posed mother,  had  changed  his  social  attitude  entirely. 
With  us  at  this  time,  and  even  later,  he  made  intense 


120  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

complaints  of  duplicity  and  general  bad  treatment 
against  both  his  father  and  stepmother;  he  was  dis- 
criminated against  in  favor  of  the  other  children ; 
he  could  see  that  this  had  long  been  the  case;  things 
in  general  were  awry.  Soon  after  he  had  heard  the 
news  which  gave  him  this  shock,  news  which  he  had 
kept  to  himself  steadily  all  these  months  until  the 
father  brought  him  to  us,  he  very  deliberately  began 
to  plan  an  anti-social  career.  He  read,  he  told  us, 
whatever  books  he  could  lay  his  hands  on  which 
might  offer  suggestions  of  how  to  become  a  criminal. 
His  stealing  the  family  savings  and  fleeing  to  another 
State  was  in  direct  pursuance  of  these  definite  plans. 
He  boasted  to  us  of  some  little  familiarity  with  jails 
in  towns  where  he  had  been  picked  up  as  a  homeless 
boy. 

In  the  ensuing  years  we  have  seen  Royal  a  number 
of  times  after  various  adventures.  These  have  con- 
sisted for  the  most  part,  as  previously  stated,  in 
running  away  from  home.  Very  little  stealing  has 
been  engaged  in,  but  there  has  been  at  times  a  great 
deal  of  lying,  deceitfulness,  and  misrepresentation,  — 
a  development  of  the  very  characteristics  of  which  this 
boy  so  bitterly  accused  his  own  family  at  the  time 
when  he  first  became  delinquent.  We  have  several 
times  had  Royal  go  over  with  us  the  specific  causes  of 
his  separate  delinquencies,  and  on  each  occasion  he 
has  made  statements  quite  similar  in  tone  to  those 
which  first  found  such  explosive  utterance. 

A  year  after  his  first  running  away,  when  talked  to 
by  a  kindly  official  who  wished  to  be  a  friend  to  him, 
Royal  told  a  somewhat  fanciful  tale  of  his  latest  scrape, 
making  it  out  to  be  much  worse  than  it  ever  was. 
Here  again  he  evidently  desired  to  pose  as  a  "bad 


CAREERS  DEVELOPED  FROM  CONFLICTS  121 

man."  At  that  same  time,  when  he  was  asked  what 
he  wanted  to  be  when  grown  up,  he  answered,  ''Noth- 
ing." He  burst  out  laughing  when  his  future  was 
discussed ;  he  went  through  some  mental  tests  in  a 
bored  manner ;  he  said,  in  a  sarcastic  way,  that  he 
was  treated  well  enough  at  home,  the  trouble  was 
that  he  did  not  want  to  go  to  school.  All  through  he 
was  trying  to  force  the  situation  to  appear  something 
entirely  different  from  the  reality.  It  was  about  this 
time  that  his  lying  and  deception  grew  to  considerable 
proportions. 

Most  noteworthy,  throughout  our  study  of  Royal's 
case,  appears  the  fact  that  ever  since  the  first  develop- 
ment of  his  anti-social  attitude,  he  has  proceeded  at 
times  in  a  deliberate  attempt  to  make  himself  out 
just  as  bad  a  person  in  a  criminal  way  as  he  could. 
Even  more  striking,  however,  is  the  antithesis  that  he 
is  thus  frequently  attempting  something  which  is 
really  foreign  to  his  own  nature;  in  facial  aspect,  in 
temperament,  he  is  anything  but  the  criminal.  He 
makes  no  attempt  to  harm  any  one ;  his  criminality 
is  of  minor  degree,  his  delinquencies  react  mostly 
upon  himself.  It  is  all  an  expression  of  feelings  which 
well  up  within  him ;  his  reactions  are  directed  against 
the  world  of  social  relationships,  against  his  position 
in  his  family.  His  wanting  "to  be  bad"  is,  after  all, 
not  consistently  carried  out;  in  spite  of  his  early 
reading  he  has  developed  no  art  of  professional  crimi- 
nalism. 

Something  of  the  character  and  violence  of  Royal's 
inner  feelings  are  witnessed  to  by  his  own  state- 
ments from  time  to  time.  We  have  described  his  first 
reactions  to  the  sudden  information  about  his  real 
parentage;     his    own    ingenuous,    boyish    statement 


122  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

shows  the  psychic  shock.     At  twelve  years  of  age  he 

said,  "I  am  wise  to  you  all  right,  doctor;    you're  all 

right,  but  you  can't  do  anything  for  me.     I  want  to 

be  a  bad  boy."     A  year  later,  while  stating  that  his 

home  was  good,  and  he  was  well  treated,  he  insisted 

that  he  would  rather  go  to  any  kind  of  a  place  than 

go    back    there.     We   found   him    then    tremendously 

self-assertive,    positive,    and  sarcastic.     Our   inquiries 

about  his  home  were  met  at  first  by  scornful  laughter ; 

he  complained  about  everything  and  raised  his  voice 

petulantly  and  aggressively  as  he  told  of  his  troubles. 

He  had  already  been  sent  to  the  school  for  truants. 

When  he  returned  home  and  one  day  was  alone,  he 

went  rummaging  inquisitively  through  the  storeroom. 

(He  told  this  incident  after  he  had  vented  in  a  couple 

of  interviews  the  scorn  that  was  within  him.)     There, 

in  a  box,  he  found  a  picture  on  which  was  written, 

"Mrs.   M."     "It  don't  look  like  my  stepmother  at 

all.     I  didn't  tell  my  father  I  saw  it,  because  I  didn't 

want  him  to  know.   .  .  .     She  always  fools  me,  too. 

I  had  some  batteries,  and  she  hid  'em  on  me;    and  I 

had  three  pencils,  and  she  put  'em  away.     It's  all  like 

that.     After  that  I   made  a  little  box   down  in  the 

basement,  and  I  kept  my  things  down  there.     I  wish 

I  had  a  Httle  safe.  .  .  .     The  judge  can  say  all  he 

wants  to,  he  can  say  all  day  if  he  wants  to,  he'll  find 

out  in  a  couple  of  days  that  I'm  missing,  and  they'll 

never  hear  any  more  from  me.  .  .  .     She  hollers  at 

me  because  I  get  up  so  early.     At  four  o'clock  I  am 

awake  already  ;    I  can't  sleep.  ...     I  don't  get  along 

with  none  of  them.  ...     If  I  came  back  home  after 

a  while,  there  would  be  more  trouble.     Lots  of  times 

T  look  in  the  paper  for  places  away  off  where  they're 

looking  for  boys.     I  don't  want  to  go  to  no  place 


CAREERS  DEVELOPED  FROM  CONFLICTS  123 

where  there  is  a  whole  bunch  of  kids ;  I  don't  get 
along  with  kids  very  well." 

Two  years  later  Royal  was  once  found  by  his  father 
in  a  large  city  hospital  where  he  had  been  for  some 
time  suffering  acutely  with  the  attack  of  rheumatism 
from  exposure.  He  had  then  been  away  from  home 
for  many  weeks  and  did  not  even  let  the  hospital 
authorities  know  who  he  was.  At  periods  during  the 
intervening  time  he  had  done  fairly  well  for  as  long 
as  a  couple  of  months.  He  had  had  several  places  of 
employment  and  been  fairly  satisfactory  and  brought 
home  his  wages.  During  one  entire  summer  season 
the  parents  had  lived  with  him  out  on  a  farm,  pur- 
posely that  he  might  have  the  country  life  he  said  he 
craved,  but  he  did  not  take  to  farming,  after  all,  and 
after  six  months  or  so  the  family  circumstances  made 
it  necessary  for  them  to  return.  The  good  stepmother 
had  now  reported  to  us  that  Royal  had  developed  no 
bad  habits ;  that  at  times  he  seemed  to  be  pleasant 
enough ;  his  biggest  fault  was  in  deceiving  and  mis- 
leading them ;  he  seemed  to  have  big  ideas  about 
little  things,  as,  for  instance,  how  far  five  dollars 
would  go.  But,  as  she  expressed  it,  "he  has  something 
like  a  grudge  back  in  his  nature." 

Some  months  later,  after  being  returned  by  the 
police  from  another  town,  Royal  talked  more  frankly 
than  he  ever  had  before  about  his  own  feelings.  He 
said  there  really  was  no  trouble  at  home ;  it  was  no 
different  from  other  homes,  but  he  was  not  comfort- 
able there ;  he  did  not  feel  right  there ;  with  a  queer 
little  laugh  and  half  averted  face,  he  stated  that  he 
did  not  want  to  go  home.  We  characterized  him  at 
that  time  as  a  peculiar  personality,  pathetic,  lovable, 
but  still  curiously  ill  adjusted  to  the  world. 


124  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

A  few  months  later  Royal  came  back  from  another 
trip.  He  had  not  been  able  to  make  his  own  way  in 
the  country  and  had  often  gone  hungry.  He  realized 
he  was  more  of  a  city  boy,  but  he  thought  he  ought  to 
live  away  from  home.  He  would  rather  go  his  own 
way  for  a  while  longer,  would  rather  eat  in  a  restaurant. 
He  thinks  that  after  a  couple  of  years  he  might  get 
over  it,  but  things  at  home  still  did  not  seem  just  right 
to  him ;  he  had  no  special  complaint,  but  he  could 
not  stand  it  there.  He  knows  he  has  been  a  bad  boy, 
and  he  knows  if  it  had  been  his  own  mother  he  would 
not  have  done  these  things.  Another  home  was  found 
for  him,  but  Royal  proved  unstable  at  his  place  of 
employment,  and  thought  he  would  like  to  try  it  with 
his  family  once  more.  After  a  few  weeks  he  again 
suddenly  left  and  was  not  heard  from  until  he  had 
long  been  in  the  eastern  reformatory. 

The  reader  will,  naturally,  ask  what  efforts  at  ad- 
justment were  made  in  this  case.  At  the  v<iry  start 
the  father  was  told  what  the  boy  knew.  He  was 
tremendously  astonished,  but  came  back  in  a  day  or 
two  with  the  corroborating  information  that  the  boy 
had  been  told  of  his  parentage  in  the  way  stated.  We 
urged  the  father  then,  and  at  later  times,  to  make  a 
complete  confidant  of  the  lad,  —  the  father  being  an 
intelligent  man,  it  seemed  as  if  he  could  handle  the 
situation.  He  did  tell  Royal  that  all  that  he  had 
heard  was  true,  but  he  went  very  little  further;  no 
deep  confidences  were  ever  established  between  them. 
It  seemed  impossible  for  the  father  to  put  himself  in 
his  boy's  position,  or  to  understand  the  very  reactions 
of  hypersensitiveness  which  he  so  well  described  to 
us  as  being  a  family  trait.  He  believed  that  Royal 
should  be  told  the  facts  of  his  birth,  but  after  all,  the 


CAREERS  DEVELOPED  FROM  CONFLICTS  125 

boy  had  learned  that  much  from  outsiders.  A  couple 
of  years  after  Royal  had  found  his  mother's  picture 
in  the  storeroom,  we  learned  that  he  carried  it  with 
him  for  a  long  time.  When  we  told  the  father  about 
it  being  taken,  he  looked  for  it  in  its  old  place  and 
found  it  gone.  This  affair  is  some  indication  of  the 
boy's  inner  state  of  mind.  The  father  gave  him  a 
good  home;  he  wanted  a  thoroughly  good  education 
for  the  boy;  the  stepmother  was  most  kindly  in  a 
wholesome  way.  Once,  on  the  very  day  when  an 
unusually  nice  birthday  celebration  had  been  planned 
for  Royal  in  the  evening,  and  he  knew  something 
about  this  affair,  he  ran  away  to  more  suffering  in  most 
inclement  weather. 

Case  7.  Among  other  things,  this  case  shows  that 
the  effect  of  different  types  of  enforced  segregation 
must  be  the  subject  of  intensive  study  if  they  are  to 
be  fairly  evaluated.  The  social  and  economic  import 
of  the  results  is  very  great.  The  failure  in  any 
such  case  as  this  is  due,  of  course,  to  several  causes, 
but  perhaps  the  greatest  is  the  slight  appreciation  of 
the  value  of  the  application  of  scientific  studies  in 
general  to  the  problems  of  misconduct. 

Mack  S.,  now  twenty-three  years  old,  is  serving  a 
one-year  sentence.  We  have  seen  him  in  and  out  of 
jail  during  a  period  of  seven  years,  and  even  before 
then  he  had  been  in  institutions  for  delinquents  several 
times.  With  one  exception  the  charge  has  been  steal- 
ing. He  has  been  held,  since  he  was  twelve  years  old, 
nine  separate  times,  for  periods  varying  from  a  couple 
of  weeks  to  almost  three  years,  in  five  different  institu- 
tions for  delinquents.  He  has  been  thus  detained 
eight  years  out  of  the  last  eleven,  but  his  first  ex- 


126  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

perience  with  institutions  began  at  six  years,  when 
he  was  kept  in  an  orphanage  for  three  years.  Then, 
between  the  ages  of  nine  and  twelve.  Mack  was  in  a 
training  school  for  dependents  — ■  sent  there  because 
difficulties  had  arisen  about  getting  him  to  attend 
school  regularly,  and,  besides  that,  he  had  begun  to 
steal.  His  life  in  institutions,  therefore,  totals  about 
fourteen  years.  And  yet  Mack  is  anything  but  a 
vicious  character ;  he  is  intelligent  and  capable ;  he 
has  never  stolen  to  the  value  of  more  than  thirty-five 
dollars  at  any  one  time ;  he  has  for  considerable  periods 
held  to  some  good  ideals,  and  in  several  ways  he  has 
proved  himself  particularly  decent. 

About  his  physical  conditions  we  may  say  that 
Mack  is  fairly  strong  and  fairly  well  developed.  At 
seventeen  he  already  weighed  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  pounds  and  was  five  feet  six  inches  in  height. 
He  has  no  organic  disease.  When  he  comes  from  an 
institution  he  generally  seems  flabby,  as  might  be 
expected,  but  soon  picks  up  strength.  For  years 
he  has  shown  a  slight  tremor  of  outstretched  hands, 
but  that  may  be  due  to  his  smoking.  The  whole 
torso  is  not  developed  in  proportion  to  his  size;  in 
this,  and  in  the  compressed  and  expressionless  mouth, 
he  shows  himself  an  institutional  type.  He  has  a 
serious  defect  of  vision  (R  Sph.  -3,  Cyl.  -3.25 ;  Axis 
180.  L  Cyl.  -4  ;  Axis  180.)  for  which  he  has  only  inter- 
mittently had  glasses.  In  the  last  few  years,  at  least, 
he  has  bitten  his  nails  excessively.  Complains  of 
frontal  headaches  at  times.  In  attitude  and  expression 
he  is  normal,  but  of  a  quiet  type;  he  speaks  in  a 
low  and  rather  repressed  voice;  head  well  sized  and 
well  shaped.     Further  examination  is  entirely  negative. 

We  have  had  opportunity  to  test  Mack  at  intervals, 


CAREERS  DEVELOPED  FROM  CONFLICTS    127 

years  apart,  and  we  know  of  his  mental  life  from  other 
sources.  He  can  be  readily  classified  as  of  fair  mental 
ability,  and  he  shows  no  aberrational  tendencies.  We 
have  been  interested  always  to  watch  for  signs  of 
mental  deterioration,  but  there  has  been  rather  a 
steady  progress  upwards,  until  nowadays  we  find  that 
he  has  learned  a  skilled  trade,  namely,  that  of  operating 
a  linotype  machine,  and  is  capable  of  earning  good 
wages.  The  report  from  his  employers  during  the 
last  period  when  he  was  free,  for  some  ten  months 
or  so,  was  that  he  was  eflScient  and  willing,  but 
he  was  unable  to  find  work  at  his  trade  for  longer 
than  a  few  months.  He  has  recently  shown  his  good 
mental  ability  by  writing  us  a  decidedly  cogent,  short 
autobiography.  It  is  written  in  a  good  hand  and 
with  fair  diction.  Mack's  other  mental  characteristics 
come  out  later  in  our  account  of  him. 

Our  knowledge  of  his  development  and  family  history 
came  from  an  unusually  reliable  source ;  they  were 
given  by  his  mother,  who  is  a  woman  of  sterling  in- 
tegrity and  character.  Mack  is  the  second  of  three 
children ;  none  dead,  and  only  one  miscarriage  that 
came  after  his  birth.  The  mother  harks  back  to  the 
time  of  her  pregnancy  with  this  boy ;  makes  consider- 
able of  the  fact  that  she  was  sickly  part  of  the  time; 
she  lived  in  a  town  where  the  climate  disagreed  with 
her.  Her  husband  was  drinking  then,  and  she  par- 
ticularly remembers  being  much  provoked  because  he 
brought  home  some  embroidered  handkerchiefs  which 
he  said  he  had  "swiped"  from  girls  he  had  been  with. 
She  was  also  worried  about  their  unsettled  circum- 
stances. But  they  were  fairly  well  off,  and  her  hus- 
band was  good  to  her  when  he  was  not  drinking.  She 
remembers   that   she   had   a  longing   for   things,   but 


128  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

states  that  she  never  took  anything  that  did  not  be- 
long to  her. 

Birth  was  easy  and  rapid ;  infancy  was  normal  until 
six  months,  when  the  child  was  accidentally  pushed 
on  a  red-hot  stove.  His  head  was  terribly  burned, 
and  it  was  about  a  year  in  healing,  but  no  delirium  or 
convulsions  followed,  and  there  was  not  known  to 
be  any  involvement  of  the  bone.  The  child  had  many 
ailments  after  that ;  he  was  not  expected  to  live 
when  he  had  cholera  infantum  at  about  one  year  of 
age.  He  walked  and  talked  early,  and  there  never 
seemed  to  be  anything  peculiar  about  him.  He  had 
scarlet  fever  and  black  diphtheria  when  he  was  seven ; 
he  had  no  enuresis  after  he  was  six  years  old.  There 
were  a  number  of  minor  accidents  and  his  head  was 
hurt  several  times,  but  they  were  never  known  to  be 
severe,  he  was  never  rendered  unconscious. 

The  father  was  an  intelligent  business  man,  but  was 
a  hard  drinker  and  went  off  on  sprees ;  he  also  con- 
sorted with  other  women.  His  father  before  him  was 
a  great  drinker,  but,  in  general,  the  family  was  com- 
posed of  good  people.  One  brother  out  of  his  many 
siblings  was  also  alcoholic,  but  the  others  all  did  well 
and  there  is  not  known  to  be  any  outbreak  of  criminal 
tendencies,  or  any  mental  or  nervous  disease  in  the 
family.  On  the  mother's  side,  a  great-aunt  of  the 
boy  was  insane,  and  an  uncle  drank  considerably  at 
times.  Otherwise  the  family  history  shows  a  group 
of  fine,  honest  people.  The  mother  herself  is  a  strong, 
intelligent  woman  who  has  had  to  work  very  hard. 
Mack's  older  brother  became  a  steady,  honest  fellow 
after  one  runaway  escapade  of  his  boyhood,  and  the 
younger  brother  is  a  remarkably  able  boy,  with  an 
apparently  fine  future  ahead  of  him. 


CAREERS  DEVELOPED  FROM  CONFLICTS  129 

On  account  of  the  father's  death  when  Mack  was 
five  years  old,  his  mother  sent  him  to  an  orphanage. 
He  came  home  four  years  later  and  was  found  to  be  a 
problem;  he  was  then  sent  away  to  a  training  school. 
The  mother  is  not  quite  certain  just  when  his  truancy 
and  stealing  began ;  she  is  not  nearly  so  clear  on  this 
point  as  is  Mack  himself,  who  places  it  very  definitely. 
They  both  tell  of  his  stealing  as  a  little  boy.  The 
mother  has  tried  hard  to  give  us  every  detail,  and 
Mack  has  engaged  with  us  in  analyzing  his  career 
at  two  series  of  interviews  and  has  added  items  at 
other  times.  This  earlier  stealing  certainly  amounted 
to  nothing  more  than  taking  cookies  and  apples,  and 
perhaps  a  penny  or  two ;  nothing  more  than  usual 
childish  delinquencies.  The  mother  went  back  to  the 
boy's  taking  his  father's  watch  when  he  was  three 
years  old,  but  that  really  merely  amounted  to  his 
putting  it  into  his  own  pocket  while  going  about  the 
house.  The  fact  is  that  she  did  not  know  when  the 
real  stealing  began,  namely,  when  he  returned  from 
the  orphanage  and  began  petty  thieving.  She  in- 
forms us  of  some  of  his  later  delinquencies,  but  all 
that  she  knows  Mack  told  us,  and  much  more  besides. 
The  poor  mother  has  had  occasion  to  learn  of  merely 
a  few  of  his  doings. 

It  is  much  to  the  point  in  this  case  to  give  in  sum- 
mary the  characteristics  of  this  young  man  as  we 
know  them  from  observation  and  from  information 
derived  from  several  sources.  Mack  is  recognized  by 
all  to  be  neat,  clean,  and  quiet.  His  mother  states 
that  he  is  kind,  alTectionate,  and  a  "great  home  boy." 
The  neighbors  speak  well  of  him.  He  has  never 
shown  bravado ;  on  the  other  hand,  he  is  often  rather 
depressed   and   repressed.     He   is   not   a   fighter,   but 


130  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

yet  is  not  cowardly.  On  the  whole,  we  should  say 
that  he  is  notably  a  truth-teller ;  he  is  fairly  frank, 
but  has  to  be  thawed  out.  It  is  important  to  state 
that  the  accounts  of  his  early  boyhood,  which  he  him- 
self gave  twice  in  detail,  two  years  apart,  agree  in 
almost  every  respect.  He  is  sure  of  himself  in  his 
statements,  which  are  never  characterized  by  evasion. 

His  mother  says  that  he  is  modest  and  never  uses 
bad  language.  He  is  recognized  by  girls  as  a  distinctly 
innocent  type.  He  blushes  readily.  Just  before  his 
latest  trouble,  a  nice  girl  found  herself  interested  in 
him.  His  attitude  towards  women  has  been  better 
than  that  of  perhaps  the  average  young  fellow,  and 
absolutely  different  from  that  of  the  young  toughs 
with  whom,  as  a  young  criminal,  he  has  had  to  be 
classed.  He  does  not  care  for  drinking  and  can  give 
up  smoking  at  will.  He  does  not  appear  in  the  least 
dissipated. 

In  the  background  Mack  constantly  keeps  a  store 
of  good  intentions.  He  does  not  seem  weak  in  other 
ways  than  in  succumbing  to  temptations  which  we 
later  give  in  detail.  He  has  been  a  reader  of  good 
books  and  has  some  ability  in  drawing.  He  has 
demonstrated  fair  earning  power.  During  his  most 
recent  period  of  freedom  he  gave  a  large  share  of  his 
wages  to  his  mother.  The  characteristics  of  his  inner 
mental  life  come  out  elsewhere.  His  rather  immobile 
features  and  the  tight  expression  of  his  mouth  indicate 
something  of  his  mental  repression.  He  bites  his 
nails  much.  Most  of  his  life  he  has  been  notable  as 
a  boy  who  kept  to  himself  a  great  deal,  but  he  was 
never  of  the  "shut-in  type"  of  which  the  psychiatrists 
speak. 

For   this   account   of   the   development   of   Mack's 


CAREERS  DEVELOPED  FROM  CONFLICTS  131 

tendencies  to  delinquency  I  draw  on  many  pages 
which  form  our  transcripts  of  interviews  with  him 
and  other  people  interested  in  him,  and  I  shall  also 
utilize  the  short  autobiography  which  he  has  written. 
We  have  to  confess  to  general  feelings  of  skepticism 
about  all  such  accounts,  a  skepticism  which  has  been 
found  largely  unjustified,  to  be  sure,  but  yet  which 
is  probably  best  to  maintain.  To  satisfy  our  attitude 
of  doubt,  we  have,  particularly  in  this  case,  obtained 
whatever  corroboration  we  could  from  other  sources 
and  have  gone  over  the  same  ground  at  intervals, 
years  apart. 

There  seems  to  be  no  doubt  whatever  that  the 
real  stealing  in  this  case  began  when  Mack  first  came 
out  of  the  orphanage  at  nearly  ten  years  of  age.  He 
found  no  father  at  home,  no  particular  parental  guid- 
ance, for  his  mother  was  out  working  every  day.  He 
"got  in"  with  a  gang  of  boys,  who  proceeded  at  once 
to  instruct  him  in  sex  matters  and  in  their  arts  of 
stealing.  Over  and  over  we  have  heard  from  him 
how  vividly  this  now  stands  out  in  his  mind  when  he 
thinks  over  his  past.  He  does  not  remember  that  he 
had  ever  considered  the  matter  of  genesis  before  we 
first  asked  him  to  go  over  his  career,  but  after  our 
first  period  of  analyzing,  he  always  has  seen  these 
beginnings  most  clearly. 

The  boys  took  hini  down  to  the  lake  shore,  and 
there  they  proceeded  to  mutual  masturbation.  He 
had  no  knowledge  of  such  things  before,  he  maintains. 
On  the  way  to  and  from  the  lake  shore,  the  boys  stole 
whatever  they  could ;  particularly  does  he  remember 
their  taking  pennies  from  news  stands.  After  a  short 
time  he  became  truant  in  order  to  join  these  boys  in 
their  excursions.     As   the  result  of  this  truancv,   he 


132  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

was  sent  away  to  the  training  school  for  dependents. 
There  Mack  began  his  soHtary  sex  practices  and 
started  secret  phantasies,  which  assumed  no  great 
proportions,  however,  until  he  was  in  other  institu- 
tions later.  He  remained  in  this  training  school  three 
years ;  his  record  must  have  been  fairly  good,  or  they 
would  not  have  kept  him. 

He  returned  home  again  at  twelve  years  and  found 
conditions  much  as  they  were  before ;  he  began  going 
out  with  boys  of  the  same  type.  He  now  became 
recognized  as  a  petty  thief  and  was  sent  to  a  school 
for  truants.  After  a  few  months  he  was  tried  on 
parole,  but  was  a  failure  and  was  returned  to  this 
institution.  He  was  once  more  sent  home  when  he 
was  about  fourteen  and  soon  got  into  trouble  again. 
Once  more  he  was  tried  at  the  training  school  where 
he  had  been  up  to  the  time  he  was  twelve  years  old. 
This  time  they  found  him  incorrigible.  He  stole  re- 
peatedly from  the  officers  there,  a  most  unusual  thing 
for  a  boy  to  do,  and  he  was  sent  back  to  court. 

Mack  looks  back  upon  this  period  in  his  life  as 
particularly  black.  His  moderate  talent  for  drawing 
he  sometimes  used  at  this  time  for  making  pictures 
which  represented  his  ideas  of  sex  affairs.  He  had 
already  felt  a  distinct  desire  to  steal,  apart  from  any 
particular  desired  object.  No  older  person  had  ever 
seriously  offered  him  any  sex  knowledge  or  advice ; 
the  mother  never  brought  herself  to  speak  to  him 
of  these  things.  He  believes  that  at  this  period  he 
was  probably  putting  up  no  fight  at  all  against  his 
temptations. 

Brought  back  into  court  he  was  sent  to  an  institu- 
tion for  delinquent  boys,  behind  high  walls  and  barred 
windows,  where  he  remained  fifteen  months.     His  ex- 


CAREERS  DEVELOPED  FROM  CONFLICTS  133 

periences  here  with  other  boys  were  worse,  he  insists, 
than  anything  he  had  known  previously.  For  the 
first  time  others  dehberately  offered  themselves  as 
sexual  objects.  Mack  states  that  this  was  something 
that  he  never  could  bring  himself  to  do,  and  he  warned 
them  that  he  would  spoil  the  life  of  no  one.  However, 
their  talk  aroused  his  own  feelings,  and  he  indulged 
liberally  in  masturbation.  He  thinks  that  by  this 
time  he  was  much  worn  out  by  his  practices  and  as- 
cribes to  them  his  headaches  and  queer  feelings  in 
the  eyes.  (We,  however,  are  quite  as  much  inclined 
to  believe  that  the  cause  of  these  troubles  was  his 
extremely  defective  vision,  for  which  he  had  not  been 
provided  with  glasses.)  In  his  little  autobiography 
Mack  states  that  he  remembers  how  he  keenly  wanted 
to  steal  while  in  this  place,  but  there  was  nothing  to 
steal. 

Upon  his  release,  at  nearly  sixteen  years  of  age,  a 
chance  was  found  for  him  out  of  the  city,  and  Mack 
went  to  live  on  a  farm  for  some  months.  He  was 
honest  while  there  and  satisfactory.  His  mother 
brought  him  back  to  town  because  she  thought  he 
was  getting  "too  thick"  with  the  stepdaughter  in 
the  household.  She  was  sure  that  nothing  irregular 
occurred  up  there,  and  the  letters  which  the  girl 
wrote  to  him  later  were  of  the  nicest  kind.  Mack's 
own  account  of  this  affair  throws  a  great  deal  of  light 
upon  his  character.  He  states  that  one  night  when 
there  was  a  terrific  storm  of  thunder  and  lightning, 
and  the  others  were  away  from  the  house,  this  girl 
came  and  crept  into  bed  with  him.  He  respected 
her  thoroughly,  and  nothing  bad  in  any  way  occurred. 
She  grew  to  like  his  company  and  came  back  on  several 
occasions;    always  he  felt  the  same  honorable   way 


134  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

towards  her,  but  his  own  feehngs  were  much  aroused, 
and  he  gave  in  to  his  old  practices  so  much  that  farm 
work  became  burdensome.  Coming  back  to  town, 
this  boy's  conflicts  started  in  full  force. 

In  order  to  get  valuable  understanding  of  the  mental 
mechanisms  in  this  remarkable  case,  we  have  twice 
asked  for  a  detailed  account  of  certain  times  when 
Mack  suddenly  developed  intense  impulses  to  steal. 
We  received,  evidently,  a  very  frank  story  of  these 
events.  For  the  understanding  of  this  type  of  im- 
pulse and  its  cause,  one  must  give  each  occasion  and 
its  antecedents  in  some  detail. 

Just  after  returning  to  the  city,  Mack  was  receiving 
letters  from  this  girl  on  the  farm  and  was  thinking 
much  about  her.  He  had  obtained  employment  de- 
livering goods  for  a  grocery  store  and  was  doing  well. 
He  was  alternately  fighting  off  his  sex  temptations 
and  giving  way  to  them.  He  states  that  he  was  some- 
what tempted  to  steal  and  did  take  things  in  the 
grocery  store  when  he  could  just  as  well  have  had 
them  for  the  asking.  One  day  he  had  collected  thirty- 
three  dollars,  tlie  most  he  had  ever  had  in  his  hands, 
and  he  remembers  his  feelings  of  stress  and  restlessness 
that  day  as  he  rode  about  on  the  wagon.  He  left 
his  wagon,  went  down-town,  and  spent  the  money  on 
cheap  shows,  restaurants,  and  lodging  houses  for  a 
few  days,  and  then  returned  home.  He  was  full  of 
remorse  and  went  to  his  employer  and  told  him  to 
take  three  dollars  out  of  his  wages  every  week  until 
the  money  was  refunded.  He  was  a  faithful  worker, 
and  for  ten  weeks  paid  up  until  there  was  only  three 
dollars  due. 

Next  door  to  the  grocery  store  was  a  restaurant 
where  a  rather  pretty  waitress  worked.     She  had  taken 


CAREERS  DEVELOPED  FROM  CONFLICTS    135 

a  fancy  to  Mack  and  on  several  occasions  had  gone 
out  with  him  for  a  stroll  in  the  evening.  One  night 
she  kissed  him.  The  next  day  he  saw  her  while  he 
was  driving  by,  and  a  great  feeling  of  unrest  came 
over  him.  He  had  just  collected  six  dollars,  and 
suddenly,  after  driving  on  a  little  way,  he  tied  the 
horse  and  made  for  down-town  all  alone.  This  was 
when  he  had  only  three  dollars  more  to  pay  up  on 
account  of  his  former  delinquency.  Again  he  spent 
the  money  on  cheap  shows  and  wandered  about  rest- 
lessly in  penny  arcades.  He  returned  home  the  next 
day,  but  this  time  his  employer  refused  to  give  him 
another  chance,  and  INIack  was  sent  once  more  to  the 
institution  for  delinquents. 

These  two  outbursts  of  the  stealing  impulse  were 
connected  with  an  intense  feeling  of  restlessness  and 
immediately^  followed  much  thought  about  girls.  At 
this  time  Mack  was  engaging  much  more  rarely  in 
masturbation.  He  made  no  attempt  to  satisfy  any 
sex  feeling  in  spending  the  money.  He  says  that  he 
did  not  know  what  he  wanted  to  do ;  he  wandered 
about  aimlessly  far  into  the  night,  seeking  first  this 
little  enjoyment  and  then  another.  He  had  no  desire 
to  be  immoral  with  girls  and  wanted  to  take  no  ad- 
vantage even  of  the  one  who  kissed  him. 

Back  in  the  institution  conditions  were  the  same. 
He  speaks  of  again  experiencing  the  desire  for  steal- 
ing, and  by  the  time  that  he  was  released  after  nine 
months,  he  states  that  he  had  fully  made  up  his  mind 
to  go  into  thieving  as  a  business,  but  after  he  once 
was  out  he  gave  up  this  idea ;  it  evidently  was  foreign 
to  his  nature. 

Several  events  which  follow  soon  after  this  seem 
worth  relating.     One  of  the  jobs  that  he  first  found 


136  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

was  peddling  samples  of  shoe  polish.  When  calling 
at  doors,  he  met  girls  who  were  pretty  free  with  him. 
His  autobiographic  letter  states,  "I  used  to  see  all 
kinds  of  pretty  girls  and  would  give  them  lots  of 
samples  for  a  kiss.  They  would  set  my  mind  a-whirl- 
ing,  and  I  could  hardly  work."  He  remembers  that 
he  indulged  in  masturbation  again  and  also  that  he 
stole  something  from  a  house.  In  his  earliest  story 
he  told  us  of  the  great  feeling  of  "wildness"  and  "up- 
set" which  finally  culminated  in  his  fleeing  his  job 
under  the  impulse  to  go  out  for  some  kind  of  a  good 
time;  but  he  stole  nothing  that  amounted  to  any- 
thing. He  got  other  positions  and  gave  way  to  more 
serious  stealing.  The  story  of  the  latter  is  most  en- 
lightening, but  at  this  place  we  must  relate  some  other 
significant  behavior. 

It  was  just  about  this  time,  when  Mack  was  still 
considered  to  be  under  parole  from  the  institution 
for  delinquent  boys,  that  his  mother  noted  that  he 
acted  as  if  thoroughly  discouraged,  and  one  night, 
going  into  his  room,  she  found  a  bottle  of  carbolic 
acid  in  one  of  his  stockings  and  a  dagger  under  the 
bed.  He  was  never  known  to  show  any  tendencies 
towards  violence  and  did  not  deny  that  these  objects 
were  intended  for  his  self-destruction.  Some  Httle 
time  afterwards  he  turned  on  the  gas  in  his  room  at 
night  and  almost  succeeded  in  his  suicidal  design; 
he  was  resuscitated  with  great  difficulty.  Looking 
back  on  this  period,  Mack  states  that  it  was  a  time 
of  great  depression ;  he  then  felt  the  inadequacy  of  his 
attempts  at  fighting  his  own  impulses.  We  note  this 
is  quite  in  contrast  to  the  optimism  which  the  young 
man  has  latterly  shown,  when  he  has  been  at  least 
partially  successful  in  combating  his  own  tendencies. 


CAREERS  DEVELOPED  FROM  CONFLICTS  137 

The  story  of  the  two  following  events  has  special 
interest  for  us,  because  at  one  of  our  interviews,  after 
we  had  found  out  that  Mack  remembered  now  that 
many  of  his  stealing  escapades  were  connected  with 
an  inner  feeling  of  unrest  and  sex  stimulation,  he 
stated  that  at  least  an  affair  about  a  gun-metal  watch 
had  nothing  to  do  with  girls  or  sex  matters.  We  care- 
fully went  into  a  deeper  analysis  of  the  event.  This 
particular  watch  Mack  stole  from  a  man  at  a  bathing 
beach.  He  could  not  remember  at  first  why  he  had 
stolen  it.  One  day  we  went  into  the  details  with  the 
greatest  of  care.  He  gradually  recollected  the  events 
preceding  the  stealing.  He  went  to  the  bathing  beach 
with  a  boy.  He  remembers  now  that  he  gave  the 
gun-metal  watch  to  this  same  boy  the  next  day,  after 
he  had  stolen  a  gold  watch.  "What  had  this  boy  to 
do  with  it?"  "Well,  nothing."  "What  happened 
with  him  at  the  beach.?"  Now  Mack  remembered. 
He  and  Mack  were  in  their  bathing  suits  and  there 
was  a  girl  there  watching  the  swimmers.  She  seemed 
"like  a  pretty  tough  girl."  As  he  remembers  it,  the 
other  boy  was  a  friend  of  hers ;  he  started  fooling 
with  her,  and  she  said  that  Mack  was  jealous.  While 
they  were  dressing,  the  other  boy  said  he  was  going 
right  up  to  her  house  and  have  a  good  time  with  her, 
and  he  told  Mack  just  what  they  were  going  to  do 
together.  Mack  remembers  he  got  excited  about  this, 
and  when  dressed  he  wandered  out  on  the  pier  and 
there  took  this  watch  from  the  clothes  of  a  man  who 
was  swimming,  a  stranger.  He  took  it  and  ran  away. 
Mack  did  not  know  that  his  boy  companion  had  ever 
engaged  in  stealing. 

That  same  night  Mack  took  a  girl  to  an  amusement 
park.     He  had  seen  her  only  a  couple  of  times  before. 


138  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

His  pay  for  the  week  was  in  his  pocket  and  he  "showed 
her  a  good  time."     She  was  not  bold  with  him,  he 
merely  kissed  her.     He  took  her  home  and  was  think- 
ing much  about  her,  and  was  again  filled  with  unrest. 
He  stayed  away  from  home  that  night  and  went  to 
a  boarding  house  where  a  man  lived  whom  he  knew. 
The  next  day  he  was  still   thinking  about  this  girl 
and  about  sex  matters,  and,  going  up  to  this  friend's 
room,  saw  his  clothes  hanging  there.     Mack  took  a 
watch,    a   lady's   gold    watch.     He    did    not  look  for 
money  or  anything  else.     It  seems  to  him  he  just  had 
a  sudden  notion  he  would  like  to  have  the  watch. 
In  the  account  of  the  girl  which  he  later  wrote,  he 
says,  "I  said  to  myself,  'I'll  give  you  a  present  of  a 
good  watch  and  get  you  for  my  girl.' "     He  remembers 
that  after  getting  several  blocks  away  from  the  house 
he  thought  of  taking  the  watch  back,  but  was  afraid 
to  do  so  because  the  man  was  probably  already  back 
in   his   room.     He   met   the   boy    companion    of   the 
previous    day    and   gave   him   the   gun-metal    watch. 
Mack  wandered  around  all  that  day  and  much  of  the 
night.     He   was   hungry   and   cold,   and   while  trying 
to  steal  something  to  eat  from  an  ice-box  on  a  back 
porch,  he  was  caught.     The  gold  watch  was  found  on 
him,  and  as  there  had  been  a  complaint  handed  to  the 
police  about  his  stealing  it  —  the  owner  knew  him  — 
he  was  held  to  the  Criminal  Court.     After  some  weeks 
in   jail   he   was   given   an   indeterminate   reformatory 
sentence,  one  to  ten  years. 

His  autobiography  concerning  this  time  is  pathetic ; 
it  states,  "I  lost  the  girl.  In  the  reformatory  I  thought 
and  thought  of  that  girl  and  would  dream  of  her." 
He  was  incarcerated  for  thirty-one  months.  During 
this  period  he  sometimes  would  give  way  to  his  sexual 


CAREERS  DEVELOPED  FROM  CONFLICTS  139 

inclinations  and  would  pick  out  passages  in  books  and 
pictures  in  magazines  that  seemed  suggestive.  At 
other  times  he  would,  he  says,  come  to  himself  and 
think  what  a  fool  he  was  making  of  himself,  and 
"would  brace  up  and  quit  that  sort  of  thing  for  a 
while." 

There  were  a  few  setbacks  on  account  of  not  follow- 
ing all  the  rules  of  the  institution,  but  he  finally  was 
released  on  parole.  Then  Mack  soon  got  a  position 
with  a  large  mail-order  firm,  where  he  had  to  wrap 
small  articles  for  delivery.  Girls  worked  all  about 
him.  "I  used  to  receive  smiles  and  nods  of  encourage- 
ment and  used  to  think  of  these  girls  continually 
while  at  work.  I  don't  know  what  it  was,  but  I  had 
the  desire  to  steal  very  strong  in  me,  and  steal  I  did. 
Every  day  I  used  to  walk  out  of  there  with  something 
in  my  pocket.  It  never  amounted  to  much,  but  I 
used  to  take  things  regularly.  One  day  one  of  the 
fellows  working  with  me  took  something  and  they 
caught  him  at  it  and  he  told  on  me.  I  was  arrested 
and,  upon  being  assured  I  would  not  be  prosecuted, 
gave  back  the  things  I  took." 

It  was  just  after  this  that  we  first  began  analysis 
of  Mack's  tendencies  to  misconduct.  It  is  true  we 
had  seen  him  some  four  years  previously,  but  then, 
I  have  to  confess,  we  were  not  at  all  awake  to  the 
psychological  aspects  of  such  a  case  as  this.  We  were 
able  to  obtain,  with  great  clearness,  an  account  of 
the  impulses  which  led  to  this  last  stealing,  begun 
within  a  couple  of  weeks  after  he  had  been  placed  on 
parole.  The  articles  taken  included  a  flash-light,  a 
box  of  cigars,  a  cigarette-lighter,  a  pearl-handled  knife, 
another  similar  knife,  a  jar  of  shampoo,  etc.  When 
asked,  a  short  time  after  he  had  taken  them,  whether 


140  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

these  articles  had  any  special  meaning  or  value  for 
him,  he  cannot  imagine  that  they  had  in  any  way. 
He  just  took  a  notion  to  them.  He  had  a  desire  to 
take  things,  and  these  came  down  the  chute  to  be 
wrapped  up.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  articles  were 
found  at  his  home,  some  of  them  untouched;  other 
things  he  had  taken  one  day  and  replaced  a  day  or 
two  later.  The  girls  at  that  place  "talked  fresh,  but 
they  never  said  bad  things  and  never  did  any  bad 
things."  Mack  at  this  time  confessed  that  he  was 
having  daydreams  about  sex  affairs  and  was  also 
dwelling  on  such  matters  at  night. 

We  attempted  to  diagnose  his  imagery,  and  it  seemed 
clear  that  it  was  of  the  mixed  type.  Tunes  run  through 
his  head,  words  come  up  in  his  mind,  or  perhaps  some 
bad  song  that  he  had  heard ;  on  the  other  hand,  he 
pictures  to  himself  scenes  and  objects,  particularly 
girls  as  he  has  seen  them  half  dressed  in  pictures. 
He  never  really  saw  a  girl  under  such  circumstances. 

I  must  emphasize  at  this  point  several  peculiar 
features  of  Mack's  case :  First,  he  has  never  stolen 
with  other  boys  since  the  time  when  he  came  out  of 
the  orphanage.  This  marks  the  case  as  peculiar,  be- 
cause such  a  large  proportion  of  the  thieves  that  one 
studies  are  gregarious  in  their  habits.  He  has  already 
stolen  at  least  a  hundred  times,  he  tells  us,  but  he 
has  never  been  engaged  in  a  burglary  or  in  any  really 
serious  affair.  He  insists  that  he  has  had  tempta- 
tions to  steal  on  numerous  occasions  when  he  has  not 
succumbed  to  them  ;  indeed  he  thinks  this  has  occurred 
more  often  than  when  he  has  stolen.  He  has  frequently 
during  his  life  replaced  things  that  he  had  previously 
stolen.  We  had  ample  proof  that  for  many  articles 
which  he  had  taken  he  had  no  use.     He  also  never 


CAREERS  DEVELOPED  FROM  CONFLICTS    141 

sold  stolen  property.  He  worries  sometimes  at  night 
about  what  he  has  taken,  but  never  bothers  himself 
much  about  the  danger  of  stealing. 

Up  to  this  time  he  had  never  tried  to  think  out  his 
career  as  an  entirety.  He  shows  this  by  his  early 
statements  to  us  that  nobody  had  taught  him  to  steal, 
and  that  some  of  his  thieving  was  not  connected  with 
sex  affairs,  when  on  later  analysis  it  proved  to  be. 
In  fact,  his  very  first  declaration  was  that  his  stealing 
had  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  girls  or  sex  affairs, 
as  far  as  he  knew.  He  had  then  never  thought  of 
the  relationship,  but  he  was  already  certain  that  his 
bad  sex  habits  and  his  dwelling  on  sex  affairs  have 
blackened  his  whole  career  through  weakening  his 
body  and  will  power.  In  many  interviews  it  came 
out  that  Mack  had  repeatedly  made  a  good  fight  for 
a  time  against  these  undesirable  tendencies,  but  then 
again  had  weakened  and  given  way  until  his  last  great 
improvement,  beginning  when  he  was  twenty  or 
twenty-one  years  old. 

Most  striking  was  what  we  learned  about  Mack's 
attitude  towards  women.  This,  in  some  ways,  was 
nothing  less  than  chivalrous.  He  said  that  the  last 
thing  he  wanted  was  to  do  harm  to  any  one,  and 
there  is  no  doubt  that  in  spite  of  all  his  temptations 
and  bad  associations  he  had  never  been  immoral  with 
a  girl  until  he  was  over  twenty-one  years  of  age.  This, 
of  course,  is  most  remarkable  and  unusual  among 
criminals. 

We  were  able  to  make  enough  of  an  analj^sis  of  this 
case  at  the  time  when  he  had  just  been  stealing  so 
soon  after  coming  out  of  the  reformatory  to  be  able 
to  see  plainly  where  Mack's  trouble  lay.  We  advised 
with  him  and  the  Association  which  had  his  parole  in 


142  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

charge,  but  in  spite  of  our  urging  the  necessity  for  an 
entirely  different  adjustment  of  the  case,  with  a  new 
understanding  derived  from  our  exploration,  only  the 
same  sort  of  treatment  was  given.  After  working  in 
a  shop  for  a  time  where  an  opportunity  was  given  him 
as  a  matter  of  charity.  Mack  was  found  a  place  in  a 
dry -goods  establishment.  No  attention  had  been  given 
to  our  advice  and  prognosis,  and  he  found  himself  at 
work  in  the  immediate  contiguity  of  a  group  of  un- 
usually forward  girls.  They  made  much  fun  of  him, 
calling  him  innocent  and  saying  to  each  other,  "watch 
him  blush."  He  stood  this  for  a  little  while  and  then 
suddenly  left  the  place  in  the  middle  of  a  morning's 
work. 

Mack  now  got  into  further  trouble  through  idleness 
and  seeking  association  with  acquaintances  he  had 
made  in  the  reformatory,  and  he  was  returned  there 
for  violation  of  parole.  The  circumstances  and  Mack's 
state  of  mind  during  the  period  after  he  suddenly  left 
his  work,  we  have  some  knowledge  of  from  several 
investigators  and  from  a  visitor  to  the  reformatory, 
who  interviewed  Mack  without  his  knowing  that  it 
was  done  at  our  request.  When  he  got  out  again, 
after  serving  fifteen  more  months,  we  had  a  further 
chance  to  get  the  exact  details  of  his  previous  failure. 
They  run  as  follows : 

Mack  was  intensely  disturbed  by  the  bantering  of 
these  flippant  girls  at  the  dry-goods  establishment. 
They  told  him  he  was  a  nice-looking  fellow  and  con- 
tinually tried  to  "make  up"  with  him,  but  he  rejected 
their  advances.  "They  got  pretty  friendly  with  me, 
but  never  hinted  at  anything  intimate.  Their  smiles 
and  flirtations  aroused  me,  so  I  quit."  This  boy, 
that   morning,    wandered    over   in    the   neighborhood 


CAREERS  DEVELOPED  FROM  CONFLICTS  143 

of  a  certain  park  where  he  thought  some  fellows  might 
be  "hanging  around"  whom  he  had  met  in  the  re- 
formatory. They  were  there,  and  began  telling  him 
what  a  good  time  they  had  had  recently,  particularly 
with  girls.  They  introduced  him  to  a  girl  who  at 
once  took  up  with  him.  "She  and  I  were  very  much 
infatuated  with  each  other.  I  used  to  stay  with  her 
every  day,  and  she  liked  me  very  much.  Then  I 
got  mixed  up  with  that  bunch  of  fellows,  and  we 
were  going  to  hold  up  a  cigar  store.  I  was  not  afraid 
to  tackle  anything  then.  I  went  over  to  the  store 
and  looked  the  place  over  and  told  the  fellows  it  was 
all  right,  but  they  got  cold  feet  and  backed  out.  I 
gave  them  my  gun.  The  landlady  saw  them  with 
the  guns  and  called  for  a  detective.  He  arrested 
three  of  the  fellows,  but  could  not  get  me,  as  I  didn't 
go  up  to  the  room  any  more.  I  went  and  stayed  with 
the  girl.  A  couple  of  weeks  after  that  they  caught 
me  just  as  I  was  going  into  her  house.  She  cried 
and  tried  to  take  me  from  them.  They  told  her  if 
she  did  not  go  home,  they  would  take  her  also.  She 
said,  'I  don't  care,  take  me  too',  but  they  sent  her 
home,  and  I  went  back  to  the  reformatory  for  viola- 
tion of  the  parole." 

There  seems  very  little  doubt  that  this  was  really 
the  first  time  that  Mack,  now  about  twenty-two  years 
old,  had  ever  been  immoral  with  a  girl,  and  this  girl 
was  in  love  with  him.  It  seems  also  true  that  this  is 
the  first  time  that  he  ever  even  thought  of  a  bold 
robbery  or  joined  in  with  other  companions. 

Returned  to  the  reformatory.  Mack  evidently  re- 
solved this  time  to  brace  up  as  never  before.  "I 
started  to  control  myself.  I  read  good  books  and 
kept   away   from   evil   pictures   and   stories.     It   was 


144  /         MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

hard  to  do  it  at  first,  but  I  did  it,  and  I  am  glad  I 
did  now,  because  all  desire  to  steal  was  taken  out  of 
me  and  all  desire  to  debase  myself  left  me.  When  I 
came  out  again,  I  determined  to  live  straight."  We 
note  from  the  reformatory  record  that  Mack  was 
changed  for  the  better  in  many  respects ;  he  worked 
hard  to  learn  a  trade,  and  when  he  came  out  it  was 
stated  that  he  could  earn  twenty-five  dollars  a  week 
as  a  linotype  operator. 

After  being  released  once  more,  everything  went 
very  well  for  ten  months.  Mack  worked  earnestly, 
lived  at  home,  stayed  there  evenings,  and  gave  his 
mother  most  of  his  wages,  and  all  were  happy.  His 
printing  work  failed  him  and  he  changed  to  another 
occupation  in  which  he  also  proved  industrious  and  a 
fair  earner.  The  men  with  whom  he  worked  fre- 
quented saloons.  He  got  to  drinking  a  little  beer, 
but  it  did  not  affect  his  behavior.  He  began  keeping 
company  with  a  very  good  looking  and  modest  girl, 
who  evidently  was  fond  of  having  him  come  to  see 
her,  —  a  girl  of  entirely  good  reputation.  There  was 
not  the  least  hint  of  dishonesty.  Twice  during  this 
period  he  confesses  he  went  to  sporting  houses,  but 
felt  himself  conquering  his  desires  and  thought  he 
was  a  much  better  fellow.  His  employer  got  into 
financial  difficulties  and  was  unable  to  pay  his  wages 
for  a  couple  of  weeks,  so  Mack  left  and  was  unem- 
ployed. A  little  prior  to  that  time  he  had  decided 
that  he  had  better  stop  drinking  beer  and  did  so. 
This  ten  months  was  the  best  period  of  his  life.  We 
learned  from  several  sources  that  he  was  well  regarded 
everywhere. 

After  a  few  days  of  unemployment,  a  little  girl, 
who  was  accustomed  to  play  about  his  house,  came 


CAREERS  DEVELOPED  FROM  CONFLICTS    145 

up  there  and  in  a  childish,  affectionate  way,  sat  on 
his  lap  and  played  there.  Mack  allowed  himself  to 
touch  her  body  in  an  improper  way,  making  not  the 
slightest  attempt,  however,  at  anything  like  rape. 
He  apparently  thought  nothing  serious  of  this  and 
remained  at  home  as  usual.  The  child  told  her  parents, 
and  they,  in  turn,  consulted  the  police,  but  later  made 
it  very  clear  that  they  did  not  wish  to  prosecute,  be- 
cause they  knew  Mack  as  a  neighbor  to  be  a  very 
decent  young  fellow,  and  their  physician  said  no  harm 
had  been  done.  The  little  girl  was  interviewed  at 
great  length  by  the  authorities,  and  Mack,  who  was, 
of  course,  known  to  be  a  repeater,  was  once  more 
thrown  into  jail.  After  ten  or  eleven  weeks  of  incar- 
ceration, he  was  brought  to  trial  and  pleaded  guilty 
to  taking  improper  liberties  with  the  child  and  re- 
ceived a  sentence  of  one  year. 

Seen  in  the  jail  this  last  time.  Mack  had  no  particular 
excuse  to  offer.  He  said  that  he  certainly  did  wrong, 
but  that  he  meant  no  harm  to  the  child  and  that  he 
had  been  extremely  weak  in  allowing  his  feelings,  even 
to  that  extent,  to  be  aroused.  What  he  regretted 
more  than  anything  was  this  further  break  in  his  en- 
deavors. He  carried  in  his  pocket  the  picture  of  the 
modest  and  nice  looking  girl  who  had  recently  been 
his  friend.  "All  the  time  I  was  out  this  last  time,  I 
didn't  steal  or  abuse  myself.  I  was  living  straight. 
I  was  arrested  that  night  when  I  was  just  coming 
home  from  visiting  the  girl  I  was  going  with."  Seen 
in  the  jail.  Mack  says  that  he  was  not  smoking  even 
there,  where  there  is  so  much  temptation  to  excess  in 
using  tobacco.  He  spent  his  time  walking  up  and 
down  the  corridors,  thinking  a  good  deal  about  him- 
self.    "I  think  now  that  every  time  I  ever  got  into 


146  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

trouble  it  was  on  account  of  a  girl.  I  always  got  in 
with  a  girl,  and  I  would  steal  and  get  arrested."  This 
was  in  response  to  one  of  our  last  questions  as  to 
why,  in  general,  he  now  thought  he  had  had  so  much 
trouble  in  life.  It  was  after  this  that  Mack  wrote 
out  for  us  his  thoughtful  story  of  his  own  life,  which 
tallied,  as  we  have  stated  before,  so  accurately  with 
accounts  given  to  us  at  intervals  during  previous  years. 

(I  have  been  asked  what  treatment  I  would  have 
advised  early  in  this  case  and  what  I  did  advise  later. 
The  several  factors  that  have  entered  into  the  making 
of  Mack's  career  have  been  set  forth  with  care ;  what 
the  disposition  of  the  case  with  these  special  needs  in 
mind  should  have  been  is  quite  obvious.  From  the 
first  appearance  of  his  delinquencies  he  was  certainly 
not  an  institutional  case,  or  at  least  should  not  have 
gone  to  any  institution  which  accepts  boys  without 
special  study  of  their  qualities.  His  conflict  at  that 
time  could  have  been  readily  analyzed,  and  there  is 
no  reason  whatever  why  he  should  not  have  succeeded, 
with  personal  help,  in  overcoming  his  tendencies.  I 
have  elsewhere  in  this  volume  cited  instances  where 
just  such  cases,  or  even  worse  ones,  have  readily 
reformed. 

To  continue  to  commit  him  so  many  times  to  in- 
stitutions without  consideration  of  the  fact  of  previous 
failure,  or  even  of  deterioration,  through  institutional 
treatment  was,  of  course,  nothing  short  of  stupidity. 
The  supervision  and  vocational  placing  through  parole 
agencies  was  likewise  notably  unadapted  to  his  needs 
and  even  contrary  to  advice  which  we  then  had  the 
chance  to  give.  Clearly  it  was  unwise  ever  to  have 
allowed  Mack  to  work  where  he  handled  articles  which 
might  tempt  him  to  steal,  or  where  he  was  frequently 


CAREERS  DEVELOPED  FROM  CONFLICTS  147 

thrown  in  association  with  girls.  He  just  as  well 
might  have  worked  at  a  trade  with  men,  or  in  the 
country  on  a  farm,  where  he  would  have  earlier  gained 
the  physical  vigor  that  he  lacked. 

Added  to  all  the  previous  want  of  understanding 
that  has  surrounded  this  case,  his  last  treatment  under 
the  law  was  almost  as  faulty.  His  misdemeanor, 
prosecution  for  which  was  not  desired,  was  punished 
in  the  light  of  his  long  record  of  unwise  commitments. 
Mack's  career  is  very  largely  a  product  of  social 
blunderings.) 


CHAPTER  VIII 
CASES  READILY  ANALYZED 

The  directness  and  clearness  with  which  the  re- 
lationship between  mental  conflict  and  misconduct 
stands  out  as  a  main  causative  fact  varies  greatly 
in  different  cases.  It  is  only  to  be  expected,  as  has 
been  suggested  in  a  foregoing  chapter,  that  with 
older  offenders  the  underlying  causes  will  prove  to 
be  more  covered  up  and  harder  to  get  at,  less  read- 
ily perceived  either  by  the  investigator  or  the  mis- 
doer.  Easily  ascertainable  relationships  will  be  found 
more  often  among  young  people  who,  however,  may 
already  have  a  considerable  record  of  delinquency. 
Then,  too,  we  find  that  certain  types  of  causal  ex- 
periences are  easier  to  uncover  than  others.  For 
example,  conflicts  about  parentage  are  usually  more 
deeply  hidden  than  emotion-producing  contacts  with 
sex  affairs.  Some  of  our  least  difficult  cases  for  ex- 
ploration are  presented  in  this  chapter. 

Case  8.  This  case  illustrates  how  vital  may  be  the 
facts  elicited  during  the  investigation  of  a  single  half 
day,  if  requirements  are  favorable.  A  very  young 
boy  had  been  repeatedly  stealing  for  about  a  year,  in 
spite  of  pleading,  punishment,  and  change  of  environ- 
ment. His  mother,  a  fine  type  of  working  woman, 
was  able  to  corroborate  much  that  the  analysis  brought 

148 


CASES  READILY  ANALYZED  149 

out.  It  was  learned  that  there  were  marked  mental 
conflicts  and  repressions,  and  curious  physical  dis- 
comforts following  directly  upon  the  repressions. 

A  little  boy  of  just  eight  years,  Arba  T.,  was  the 
object  of  much  complaint  by  several  people,  including 
his  mother.  We  found  a  very  normal  and  pleasant 
boy  to  deal  with.  Outside  of  moderately  defective 
vision  his  physical  status  was  decidedly  good.  His 
expression  was  lively,  responsive,  and  merry  at  times ; 
his  features  were  well  formed ;  he  was  unembarrassed 
and  fairly  talkative,  but  showed  no  disposition  to 
make  much  of  his  own  case.  Altogether  the  lad  pre- 
sented decidedly  normal  attributes. 

His  general  apperceptions,  as  indicated  by  his  be- 
havior and  coherent  conversation,  would  have  indicated 
his  good  mental  powers,  but  in  confirmation  we  may 
say  that  mental  tests  were  done  by  him  quite  up  to 
his  age-level.  As  one  finds  in  children  no  older  than 
he,  there  was  some  little  uncertainty  manifested  about 
memory  of  events  occurring  a  couple  of  years  earlier, 
but  fortunately  all  of  the  points  which  we  needed 
were  given  with  enough  detail  so  that  for  verification 
they  could  be  compared  readily  with  what  his  mother 
knew.  We  found  some  little  self-contradiction  at 
first,  which  later  disappeared,  evidently  as  the  boy 
made  clear  to  himself  the  development  of  his  own 
tendencies.  In  this  way  it  was  a  very  interesting 
exhibition  of  how  an  individual  may,  upon  question- 
ing, clarify  what  before  was  confused  in  his  mind  or 
not  at  all  consciously  thought  of.  From  our  stand- 
point, of  course,  the  value  of  his  statements  increased 
greatly  when  we  were  able  to  corroborate  them  by 
the  mother's  independent  assertions. 


150  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

This  good  mother  had  suffered  much  from  his  steal- 
ing. She  had  moved  from  the  old  neighborhood  on 
account  of  it,  then  placed  him  in  an  orphanage,  and 
recently  tried  him  at  home  again.  She  had  felt  her- 
self bound  to  pay  for  some  of  his  thieving.  Taking  it 
altogether,  it  was  a  case  of  excessive  stealing  of  small 
money  from  neighbors,  from  pocketbooks  that  might 
be  found  in  teachers'  desks  or  elsewhere,  and  of  articles 
that  would  seem  to  have  little  or  no  value  for  him, 
all  continued  for  more  than  a  year. 

After  sympathetic  general  questioning  about  his 
troubles,  this  little  lad  began  to  volunteer  information 
about  various  bad  boys;  not  so  much  concerning 
stealing  as  other  things  that  he  had  been  taught. 
Several  of  them  had  told  him  very  bad  things,  he  said, 
and  "there  is  one  little  boy  who  does  bad  things  to 
girls  and  even  to  a  grown  up  lady."  The  story  was 
told  rather  indefinitely,  implicating  several  boys. 
When  asked  if  the  things  that  he  has  heard  bother 
him,  he  says,  "It  goes  right  to  here,  in  my  head,  and 
goes  all  around  in  here,  and  gets  me  dizzy.  It  is  what 
they  told  me,  you  know,  what  I  told  you  before." 
The  boy  denied  ever  having  seen  any  bad  pictures, 
and  when  asked  to  describe  more  in  detail  how  he  is 
affected  said,  "I  try  to  go  to  sleep,  and  it  hurts  me. 
I  sleep  a  little,  and  then  it  starts  up  again.  I  think 
about  what  they  told  me,  about  that  stuff,  and  some- 
times it  goes  right  up  to  my  eyes."  Asked  if  he 
means  that  it  is  words  that  bother  him,  he  insists 
that  it  is,  but  neither  now,  nor  at  any  time  later,  nor 
when  interviewing  him  with  his  mother,  would  he  say 
what  these  words  were.  He  has  heard  bad  words, 
but  does  not  now  know  what  they  are.  "I  don't 
know  that  word  now;    I  can't  remember  it."     It  was 


CASES  READILY  ANALYZED  151 

very  curious  when  the  boy  repeatedly  pointed  to  the 
back  of  his  head  and  said  that  the  word  hurt  him 
there  when  it  came  up  in  his  mind.  According  to 
his  mother,  he  had  once  complained  to  her  that  a 
word  bothered  him,  and  she  insisted  that  he  get  it 
out  of  his  rnind ;  she  also  stated  that  he  often  spoke 
of  pain  and  queer  feelings  in  the  back  of  his  head,  but 
had  not  told  her  before  what  was  the  cause. 

Arba  also  confessed  that  he  touched  himself  sexually 
in  bed  at  night  when  he  thought  of  what  this  boy  had 
told  him,  and  that  his  mother  knew  of  this  habit. 
It  came  out  later  that  the  mother  had  been  aware  of 
this  and  had  tried  to  prevent  it,  but  there  was  no 
evidence  that  he  was  masturbating  to  an  injurious 
extent ;  indeed,  his  good  physical  condition  showed 
the  contrary.  Whenever  the  subject  of  stealing  was 
approached,  the  boy  began  talking  about  what  he 
had  learned  concerning  sex  affairs.  He  stated  that 
he  dreams  the  things  that  he  has  learned  from  a  cer- 
tain boy,  that  this  other  lad  takes  girls  into  basements, 
and  that  "When  he  says,  'Go  ahead  and  steal',  it  hurts 
rae  awfully  in  my  head."  While  telling  us  of  this, 
the  boy  seemed  very  serious  and  sighed  often.  A  long 
story  was  related  about  boys  with  whom  he  had  stolen, 
or  to  whom  he  had  given  things  that  he  had  taken,  and 
in  each  case  he  volunteered  the  information  that  these 
were  boys  with  whom  he  had  talked  about  sex  affairs 
or  who  had  done  such  things. 

When  we  tried  to  get  at  the  very  beginnings,  we 
came  to  a  remarkable  statement :  Arba  told  us  that 
at  one  time,  which  the  mother  was  able  to  place  at 
about  a  year  previous,  when  he  was  in  a  moving-picture 
show,  a  man  approached  him  and  said  he  would  buy 
some  candy  for  him,  and  then  this  man  took  him  to  a 


152  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

shanty  and  played  with  him  sexually,  but  did  not  hurt 
him.  The  mother  remembers  the  time  very  well, 
because  the  boy  had  the  candy  and  told  her  that  a 
man  had  bought  it  for  him,  and  she  had  thought  no 
more  of  the  matter.  The  connection  with  the  impulse 
to  steal,  the  boy  assures  us,  dates  from  this  time, 
because  the  man  told  him  that  since  he,  Arba,  did 
not  have  any  money,  he  ought  to  go  out  and  steal 
things,  particularly  money.  Arba  is  sure  that  this  is 
the  first  time  that  he  ever  knew  anything  about  sex 
affairs  or  about  stealing.  The  mother,  now  placing 
this  event  with  some  accuracy,  was  certain  that  the 
first  theft,  which  was  of  money  from  a  neighbor's 
kitchen,  occurred  very  soon  after  this.  There  positively 
had  been  no  stealing  before. 

Going  later  into  the  matter  with  the  mother  and  the 
boy  together,  the  probability  of  the  truth  of  all  this 
became  for  me  much  increased.  The  nervousness 
which  she  had  before  told  us  the  boy  had  shown  for 
the  last  year  and  the  bad  habits  which  he  had  begun 
and  the  complaint  of  headache  and  the  repression  of 
words,  which  even  now  he  would  not  utter  to  the 
mother  or  to  me,  all  went  back  to  this  experience 
with  the  man,  which  he  had  never  told  his  mother 
about,  but  which  had  so  deeply  impressed  him.  From 
that  time,  delinquency,  particularly  truancy  and  steal- 
ing and  sex  affairs  of  several  kinds,  all  entered  his 
mind  as  possibilities  of  behavior.  He  had  been  once 
taken  by  the  police  while  with  another  boy  in  a  house 
where  he  had  gone  to  steal,  but  this  had  not  acted  as 
a  deterrent,  any  more  than  sending  him  to  an  orphan- 
age on  account  of  his  bad  behavior,  or  punishment 
by  his  mother  for  stealing  and  also  for  masturba- 
tion.    No  reprimand  counted  for  much  while  the  real 


CASES   READILY  ANALYZED  153 

nature  of  his  trouble  was  undiscovered,  while  he 
suffered  impulsions  the  background  of  which  was 
not  known. 

Arba  is  an  only  child ;  the  parents  were  married 
very  young.  The  father  died  when  the  boy  was  two 
years  old,  and  the  mother  was  obliged  to  earn  her 
own  living  at  once  after  the  father's  death.  On  ac- 
count of  poverty  and  the  mother  being  away  at  work, 
there  had  been  lack  of  parental  control,  and  normal 
home  interests  were  not  built  up  as  they  otherwise 
might  have  been.  Heredity  was  evidently  entirely 
negative  on  both  sides ;  in  neither  family  had  there 
been  mental  trouble  or  tendencies  to  misconduct. 
Developmental  history  was  also  negative.  On  ac- 
count of  the  good  sense  of  the  mother,  we  were  in- 
clined to  believe  that  she  should  try  once  more  with 
the  boy  at  home.  She  was  willing  to  meet  the  situa- 
tion by  going  further  into  his  special  troubles,  and 
Arba  was  anxious  to  take  them  up  with  her,  but  we 
felt  that  time  only  would  show  whether  or  not  under 
her  circumstances  she  could  be  successful. 

(Reports  and  one  further  study  of  the  boy  carry 
us  to  about  a  year  later.  The  mother's  unfortunate 
circumstances  continued  to  lead  to  failure  during  the 
several  months  when  she  again  tried  to  manage  him 
at  home.  She  had  no  time  or  strength  to  watch  him, 
nor  could  she  afford  to  live  in  a  better  neighborhood. 
He  ceased  stealing,  according  to  her  account,  but  he 
himself  told  us  that  everything  was  just  the  same 
with  regard  to  this  and  his  sex  temptations.  Com- 
panionship with  bad  boys  continued.  His  headaches 
ceased,  but  evidently  bad  sex  habits  increased.  The 
failure  being  apparent  to  every  one,  he  was  now  placed 
through  private  funds  in  a  country  home,  and  from 


154  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

there,  after  four  months'  trial,  comes  the  report   that 
the  boy  is  doing  wonderfully  well.) 

Case  9.  An  exceedingly  important  case,  proving 
the  immediate  therapeutic  effects  of  exploration  when 
this  is  followed  by  intelligent  measures  for  mental 
readjustment,  may  be  given  in  a  few  words,  since  I 
have  reported  it  previously.^  For  six  years  now  there 
has  been  complete  freedom  from  the  misconduct  which 
was  the  original  cause  of  complaint. 

This  little  girl  of  ten  years,  notable  for  unusual 
modesty  and  refinement,  had  for  two  years  engaged 
in  an  astonishing  amount  of  stealing.  She  had  taken 
money  and  other  things,  not  only  from  her  parents  on 
repeated  occasions,  but  also  money  and  jewelry  from 
neighbors,  and  various  things  from  school.  She  had 
already  stolen  in  two  schools  and  been  expelled.  In 
spite  of  much  threatening  of  police  and  reform  school, 
and  some  whipping,  and  having  been  given  money 
regularly  to  spend,  there  had  been  no  improvement. 
She  was  said  to  be  strong-willed,  but  not  quick-tem- 
pered, and  to  lie  only  about  the  matter  of  stealing.  The 
story  of  delinquency  seemed  astounding  when  one 
met  the  girl,  so  pleasantly  bright  and  affectionate. 
When  we  sought  to  analyze  the  case,  we  were  soon 
frankly  met  by  her  statement  that  she  was  continually 
fighting  against  certain  thoughts.  Although  the 
mother  regarded  her  as  so  exceptionally  modest, 
there  were  "bad  words"  which  continually  came 
up  in  her  mind.  She  suffered  from  headaches  some- 
times. "These  things  come  up  in  my  mind  often. 
Well,  when  I  am  in  school  and  have  that  headache 

1  Case  65  in  "  The  Individual  Delinquent",  Healy. 


CASES  READILY  ANALYZED  155 

I  told  you  about,  and  sometimes  at  night,  and  then 
I  get  all  mixed  up.  .  .  .  When  these  things  come 
up,  I  forget  all  I  am  doing  and  get  upset,  and  then 
sometimes  I  take  things.  .  .  .  These  things  come  up 
to  me  when  I  am  in  school,  and  I  cannot  study  well. 
I  got  all  mixed  up  at  the  P.  school,  too."  (This  was 
one  of  the  schools  where  she  stole  and  from  which  she 
was  expelled.) 

In  this  case  the  parents  proved  themselves  highly 
intelligent  and  thoroughly  able  to  cope  with  the  situa- 
tion. They  entirely  won  her  confidence  and  explained 
such  sex  affairs  to  her  as  she  had  already  been  running 
over  in  her  mind,  and,  as  I  recommended,  went  further 
than  I  did  in  learning  the  details  of  the  early  associa- 
tions which  formed  the  genesis  of  her  impulses  to 
steal.  From  certain  incidents  related  by  the  girl, 
thej'^  were  able  to  corroborate  much  of  her  story. 
Two  or  three  years  previously,  when  they  were  on  a 
vacation  in  a  country  town,  she  had  often  played  with 
a  boy,  who,  they  themselves  heard  later,  was  accus- 
tomed to  steal.  He  had  told  her  about  stealing,  but, 
above  all  things,  he  had  also  given  her  her  first  knowl- 
edge of  sex  life  and  taught  her  words  which  she  had 
never  heard  before.  She  knew  they  were  words  to 
be  ashamed  of,  so  she  repressed  them  and  the  whole 
incident  itself;  but  the  words  and  thoughts  came 
back  and  back  to  her  with  the  strength  of  an  obsession. 
Her  impulses  to  steal  were  derived  directly  from  this 
conflict.  The  parents  made  the  connections  between 
all  this  clear  to  themselves  and  to  the  girl,  and  in- 
telligently developed  as  many  new  interests  for  her 
as  possible.  The  result  has  been  admirable ;  the 
tendency  to  steal  disappeared  as  if  by  magic.  A 
recent  report,  six  years  since  we  analyzed  this  case, 


156  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

is  that  she  has  never  been  dehnquent  again  upon  any 
occasion.  Her  progress  in  school  and  in  every  other 
way  has  been  entirely  normal. 

Case  10.  No  case  illustrates  more  clearly  the  rela- 
tionship between  mental  conflict,  as  cause,  and  delin- 
quency, as  result,  than  the  following  instance  of  a  young 
boy  whose  night  wandering  caused  his  family  much 
anxiety. 

We  first  heard  of  John  B.  through  a  policeman  who 
had  been  asked  by  a  street-car  conductor  to  "pick 
up"  the  little  boy  because  he  had  been  riding  for 
hours  on  the  cars  in  the  middle  of  the  night.  An 
investigating  officer  was  told  by  the  school  people 
and  by  John's  mother  that  there  must  be  something 
wrong  with  him ;  they  judged  so  on  account  of  his 
habit  of  night  riding  and  certain  other  strange  actions ; 
all  were  anxious  to  have  his  case  studied. 

We  found  a  frail,  plaintive  boy  of  eleven  and  one- 
half  years,  weight,  seventy-one  pounds,  possessing  a 
rather  well-shaped  head  and  delicate  features.  His 
face  looked  tired,  with  rings  about  his  eyes.  When 
younger  he  suffered  from  tubercular  skin  disease  and 
enlargement  of  the  cervical  glands,  and  had  been 
oper.ated  upon  for  these.  There  were  some  scars  of 
head  injuries,  which,  however,  had  not  been  serious. 

On  mental  tests  the  boy  did  not  do  very  well,  but 
he  was  studied  at  a  period  of  great  stress  for  him. 
We  felt  it  would  be  necessary  to  re-examine  him  to 
know  his  real  mental  ability.  He  gave  many  indica- 
tions of  having  good  apperceptive  powers.  On  the 
Binet  tests  he  showed  just  one  year  of  retardation, 
but  yet,  as  in  the  test  which  requires  sixty  words  to 
be  given  in  three  minutes,  we  felt  that  he  might  easily 


CASES  READILY  ANALYZED  157 

have  done  better  if  he  had  been  in  a  more  settled 
frame  of  mind.  His  chief  trouble  seemed  to  be  lack 
of  power  to  command  his  mental  resources.  School 
work  was  equivalent  to  the  fourth  grade.  There  was 
no  intimation  from  anybody  that  the  boy  was  sub- 
normal, merely  that  he  had  been  behaving  rather 
queerly  at  home  of  late,  and  that  his  attention  was 
poor  in  school.  We  had  a  chance  to  study  this  boy 
again  eight  months  later,  at  which  time  we  found 
physical  conditions  still  poor,  but  he  showed  a  decided 
gain  on  mental  tests. 

From  the  healthy-minded  and  sensible  mother  we 
learned  that  John  has  always  been  regarded  as  a 
delicate  boy.  At  his  birth  there  was  some  trouble 
resuscitating  him,  and  he  was  small  in  size.  In  early 
childhood  he  had  various  illnesses  which  held  him 
back.  There  had  been  pneumonia  a  couple  of  times, 
measles,  and  scarlet  fever,  and  the  tubercular  trouble 
of  the  glands  and  skin.  For  some  time  now  he  had 
seemed  to  his  mother  unduly  restless  and  wild ;  she 
hesitated  to  leave  him  with  the  younger  children  be- 
cause of  his  wild  shouting  and  jumping  about.  How- 
ever, he  had  had  no  definite  nervous  ailment,  and  no 
one  had  observed  bad  habits.  From  his  various 
illnesses  he  always  made  a  slow  recovery,  and  all 
along  had  been  a  rather  puny  child,  although  coming 
from  a  family  where  the  others  are  stout  and  healthy. 
John's  intelligent  mother  stated  that  there  was  noth- 
ing of  significance  in  the  family  history,  no  mental 
trouble  and  no  nervous  disease,  and  he  "takes  after" 
no  one  in  his  delinquent  tendencies. 

Two  years  previously  John  had  been  truant  for  a 
short  time.  The  family  had  thought  this  a  matter 
to  be  taken  in  hand  immediately  and  had  sent  the 


158  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

boy  away  to  a  private  school  for  a  year.  He  returned 
home  some  nine  months  prior  to  the  time  when  we 
saw  him.  There  had  been  no  particular  trouble 
again  with  him  at  home,  or  in  school,  until  two  months 
ago,  when  he  started  staying  away  from  home  all 
night.  After  his  first  adventure,  they  watched  him 
closely  and  did  not  allow  him  out  in  the  evening,  but 
later  he  repeatedly  stayed  away  from  home  altogether 
instead  of  returning  from  school,  and  did  not  come 
back  until  the  next  day.  He  thus  was  away  all  night 
eight  or  ten  times,  apparently  not  having  slept  on 
these  occasions.  At  least  four  times  the  police  had 
found  him  on  the  street  cars  early  in  the  morning 
and  had  returned  him  home.  What  seemed  more 
strange  was  that  he  was  out  on  some  of  the  very 
coldest  nights,  when  he  could  have  been  anything 
but  comfortable.  There  had  been  no  trouble  at  all 
at  home  to  account  for  his  staying  away.  We  were 
witness  to  the  great  affection  in  which  the  mother 
and  boy  held  each  other.  John  repeatedly  said  that 
the  trouble  which  he  had  caused  his  family  was  all 
his  own  fault.  His  mother  had  been  well-nigh  dis- 
tracted during  his  absences. 

The  keynote  to  the  situation  was  found  with  re- 
markable ease  in  this  case,  when,  after  the  first  es- 
tablishment of  friendliness,  John  was  asked  to  tell 
about  what  was  worrying  him.  This  simple  invita- 
tion seemed  to  loosen  all  that  held  back  his  story 
from  his  parents.  He  gave  us  at  once  the  outlines 
of  his  experiences,  which  later  we  were  able  to  prove 
in  many  particulars.  It  may  be  of  interest  to  note 
that  at  a  second  interview,  when  more  detail  and 
more  exact  dates  were  asked  for,  with  a  response 
characteristic    of    the    testimony    of   young    children, 


CASES   READILY  ANALYZED  159 

John  filled  in  some  hiatuses  with  additions  which 
proved  untrue.  However,  later  he  denied  these  and 
returned,  with  full  ingenuousness,  to  his  original  and 
important  story.  Other  aspects  of  the  case  developed 
later.  They  were  also  important,  and  with  the  mother 
we  were  enabled  to  get  at  all  the  main  facts  of  what 
John  said  had  been  bothering  him. 

John  told  us  that  he  always  went  on  his  strange 
excursions  alone.  Where  had  he  heard  about  that 
sort  of  thing.?  How  did  he  get  the  idea  into  his 
head.'^  "A  lady  my  mother  knows  was  talking  to 
my  mother  about  a  boy  who  stays  out  nights."  Fol- 
lowing this  simple  clue,  we  gradually  obtained  the 
connections,  step  by  step,  of  this  woman's  conversation 
with  his  delinquency.  We  heard  that  the  boy  of 
whom  she  spoke  was  known  to  him,  although  he  had 
not  seen  him  to  speak  to  for  several  months  and  had 
never  gone  out  at  night  with  him.  He  was  a  bad 
boy  whom  he  had  known  for  years,  who  said  "bad 
words",  who  had  "bad  pictures."  "He  said  bad 
words,  and  I  never  listened  to  him.  He  said  bad  about 
girls.  He  had  bad  pictures.  He  had  a  camera ;  he 
was  taking  pictures,  and  it  showed  where  girls  was 
naked,  at  the  swimming  pool.  He  was  standing  on 
the  steps  there,  and  there  was  a  window  there.  He 
told  me  how  he  took  the  pictures  when  he  showed  them 
to  me.  It  was  last  summer.  He  told  me  about  doing 
it  with  girls  when  he  showed  me  that.  He  said  he  was 
going  to  do  it.     I  told  him,  'No,  I  wouldn't.'" 

An  astonishingly  plaintive  look  came  over  this 
boy's  face  when  we  asked  him  if  this  was  what  was 
bothering  him.  "It's  mostly  in  my  mind,  those  pic- 
tures. It's  hard  to  forget.  Every  time  I  think  of 
it,  I  don't  like  it." 


160  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

At  other  interviews  we  obtained  a  detailed  account 
of  the  boy's  dehnquencies.  It  seems  that  the  impulse 
to  ride  on  the  street  cars  at  night  and  to  stay  away 
from  home  came  to  him  directly  after  hearing  this 
neighbor  tell  his  mother  that  Bill  T.  had  stayed  out 
nights  riding  on  the  cars.  John  became  possessed  of 
the  idea  and  started  very  quickly  afterwards  doing 
this  himself.  He  would  either  slip  off  from  home, 
after  hiding  his  hat  and  coat  so  that  he  could  secretly 
get  them,  or  he  would  stay  away  from  home  altogether 
after  school  was  out.  Sometimes  he  did  not  return 
home  after  he  had  been  sent  out  in  the  late  afternoon 
on  an  errand.  Two  or  three  times  he  had  begged  a 
quarter  from  a  friend ;  once  he  had  taken  some  money 
which  his  mother  had  given  him  to  buy  biscuits. 
Other  times  he  had  told  stories  to  the  conductors  on 
the  night  cars  about  being  homeless  or  losing  his  way. 
Once  at  the  police  station  he  had  alleged  that  he  was 
a  half  orphan  and  that  his  mother  had  badly  mis- 
treated him.  He  rode  back  and  forth  on  long  trips 
between  the  outlying  districts  and  the  center  of  the 
city,  and  more  than  once  had  met  some  farmer  in  the 
early  morning  who  had  given  him  a  ride  in  from  a 
suburb.  The  idea  of  doing  all  this,  he  many  times 
asserted,  arose  from  the  thought  of  how  Bill  T.  went 
on  the  cars  at  night,  and  Bill  T.  had  been  so  often  in 
his  mind  because  he  could  not  forget  those  pictures. 
"They  always  come  in  my  mind.  Sometimes  at 
night.  When  I  am  in  bed.  I  told  him  I  wouldn't 
do  that  to  girls.  I  told  him  it  was  too  dirty.  I 
haven't  seen  him  since  last  summer.  It  was  in  the 
alley.  He  tried  to  do  the  same  thing  he  did  to  girls, 
and  I  wouldn't  leave  him  do  it.  .  .  .  Lots  of  times 
they  come  up  in  my  mind,  those  pictures.     In  school 


CASES   READILY  ANALYZED  IGI 

I  would  be  talking  to  boys ;  it  would  start  and  I  would 
be  thinking  of  it.  .  .  .  No,  he  doesn't  go  to  our 
school.  ...  I  saw  some  other  bad  things.  I  was 
hiding.  I  saw  through  a  place ;  it  was  a  barn.  There 
was  three  men  and  three  ladies.  There  was  a  saloon 
in  front.  They  were  doing  the  same  thing  that  Bill  T. 
was  talking  about." 

John  was  never  able  to  tell  exactly  his  object  in 
staying  away  all  night.  He  remembered  very  distinctly 
how  the  idea  came  into  his  mind,  but  he  could  not 
say  just  what  led  him  to  go  riding,  even  on  those 
coldest  nights,  in  street  cars,  when  he  could  have  been 
warm  and  comfortable  at  home.  He  could  not  describe 
any  pleasure  that  he  derived  from  his  trips,  nor,  indeed, 
did  he  even  allege  that  there  was  any  pleasure  or  any 
idea  of  pleasure  in  taking  them.  He  could  only  tell 
of  the  impulse  and  when  it  first  arose.  Among  other 
details,  he  recounted  how  he  had  waited  sometimes 
in  a  hallway  across  the  street  from  his  home  until 
the  late  car  came  —  about  eleven  o'clock,  on  its 
way  down-town  —  on  which  there  was  a  conductor 
who  didn't  pay  much  attention  to  him,  and  who  had 
let  him  ride  on  and  on  when  he  was  out  a  previous 
night. 

In  the  old  days  when  he  and  Bill  went  to  the  same 
school  they  were  truant  together  a  few  times,  and  it 
was  hearing  about  his  truancy  that  led  John's  mother 
to  send  him  away  to  the  private  school.  In  those 
days  Bill  had  no  bad  pictures  and  never  talked  about 
such  things ;  it  was  only  last  summer,  after  John  had 
returned  from  the  private  school.  John  absolutely 
denied  any  bad  sex  habits.  Other  boys  have  told 
him  about  these  things,  but  he  thinks  it  is  wrong. 
His  mother  has  warned  him  about  it.     He  frequently 


162  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

showed  to  us  his  disapprobation  of  all  that  is  con- 
nected with  illicit  sex  affairs. 

We  worked  with  the  mother  on  this  case,  and  to- 
gether we  were  able  to  get  very  certainly  at  the  details. 
She  had  never  known  who  this  Bill  T.  was  until  a 
couple  of  months  ago,  when  this  neighbor  told  her, 
as  John  said,  about  his  being  a  boy  who  smoked  and 
used  bad  words  and  stayed  away  from  home  riding 
on  the  cars  at  night.  She  was  not  aware  that  he  had 
ever  been  truant  with  her  boy.  She  had  not  inquired 
with  whom  John  was  associating  in  those  days,  just 
before  she  sent  him  to  the  private  school.  She  knew 
nothing  of  any  bad  pictures  that  John  had  seen,  nor 
of  his  witnessing  a  drunken  orgy.  It  was  clear  that 
he  had  always  stayed  away  alone  and  was  not  in- 
fluenced by  any  recent  bad  companionship.  From 
her  we  heard  the  details  of  an  affair  about  which 
John  seemed  to  have  little  recollection.  He  told  us 
vaguely  about  some  other  sex  experience,  but  it  seems 
that  when  he  was  quite  small  a  man  had  used  him 
in  some  peculiar  way  as  a  sexual  object,  but  had  done 
him  no  harm  and  not  forced  him  in  any  violent  way. 
The  man  was  sentenced  to  jail  on  account  of  indecent 
liberties.  It  was  not  known  to  her  that  this  had  left 
any  deep  impression  upon  John,  and  indeed,  the  boy 
told  us,  when  questioned  by  his  mother,  that  it  was 
not  this  that  ever  bothered  him  at  all.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  it  was  a  rather  superficial  affair,  and  perhaps 
the  significance  of  it  had  not  sunk  in  at  all  upon  the 
little  fellow.  John  reiterated  to  his  mother  most  em- 
phatically how  he  was  worried  by  what  Bill  had  told 
him  and  shown  him,  and  how  these  things  kept  coming 
up  in  his  mind.  He  also  restated  once  more  in  her 
presence  that  his  whole  idea  of  staying  out  at  night 


CASES  READILY  ANALYZED  163 

came  from  hearing  that  Bill  had  done  this,  —  a  form 
of  delinquency  which  was  evidently  possible  for  him, 
John,  as  a  clean  boy,  to  indulge  in  without  great  self- 
disapprobation. 

(During  eight  months  that  have  elapsed,  John  has 
not  repeated  his  peculiar  conduct.  To  be  sure,  there 
has  been  trouble  on  account  of  sudden  poverty  in  the 
family.  At  first  the  boy  was  sent  away  for  a  little 
time  to  a  school  from  which  he  readily  could  have 
run  away.  He  did  not  make  any  effort  to  do  so. 
He  lately  has  turned  to  selling  papers  at  night  as  well 
as  before  school  to  help  in  the  family  situation.  This 
led  to  his  sleeping  away  from  home  a  couple  of  nights, 
but  in  no  delinquent  way.) 

Case  11.  An  exceedingly  diflScult  school  problem  and 
its  causation  was  clearly  explicable  after  a  short  time 
spent  in  analysis  of  the  following  case. 

Billy  M.  at  ten  years  of  age  had  already  been  sus- 
pended from  several  different  schools.  From  the 
parents  and  school  authorities  we  heard  that  the 
trouble  was  mischief,  malicious  mischief,  but  there 
had  been  no  stealing  or  running  away  from  home  and 
very  little  truancy.  In  the  schoolroom  Billy  insists 
on  humming  and  singing  and  annoying  others.  As 
he  pretends  to  read,  he  simply  seems  to  be  concocting 
schemes  for  making  disorder ;  he  sticks  pins  in  the 
children.  At  home  he  continually  plays  with  matches 
and  once  in  a  most  malicious  way  tried  to  burn  his 
brother  with  a  hot  poker.  He  started  a  fire  in  the 
house,  perhaps  accidentally,  and  has  given  much 
trouble  in  other  ways.  At  Sunday  school  they  simply 
will  not  tolerate  him.  His  parents  punish  him  and 
deprive  him  of  various  privileges  ;  the  boy  ever  promises 


164  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

to  do  better,  but  his  misbehavior  speedily  recurs.  It 
seems  as  if  he  is  almost  possessed  with  the  idea  of 
pestering  others. 

We  found  a  bright-eyed  and  open-faced  boy  in 
very  good  general  physical  condition  and  with  no 
sensory  defects.  Mentally  he  graded  well  up  to  his 
years  and  could  be  readily  characterized  as  a  bright, 
well-spoken,  and  intelligent  boy.  His  record  in  school 
for  scholarship  was  as  good  as  he  permitted  it  to  be. 

We  heard  in  great  detail  about  the  family  and  de- 
velopmental history;  there  was  nothing  that  seemed 
to  bear  positively  upon  this  case.  In  the  home  circle 
there  was  one  element  that  might  have  affected  this 
boy's  behavior,  —  an  older  cousin  who  Hved  there 
was  an  impertinent  and  difficult  girl  to  get  along  with. 
However,  everything  else  faded  into  insignificance  in 
comparison  with  the  data  which  we  obtained  from 
the  boy  himself. 

Billy  met  us  in  a  thoroughly  frank  way.  He  seemed 
to  be  anything  but  the  little  villain  that  he  was  por- 
trayed. When  we  asked  for  his  troubles  and  the 
beginnings  of  them,  he  told  us  about  his  behavior  in 
school  and  gradually,  under  our  leading,  went  on  to 
discuss  companions  that  he  had  several  years  before. 
Out  of  the  long  tale  which  was  told  us,  the  main  point 
was  that  older  boys  had  long  ago  told  him  about 
bad  sex  affairs  and  their  masturbatory  practices. 
*'It  comes  back,  and  I  can't  forget  it."  What  he 
could  not  forget  appeared  to  be  some  of  the  words  and 
ideas  which  he  had  been  told;  that  is,  he  had  tried 
to  repress  them,  but  they  insistently  reappeared  in 
his  mind.  Billy's  story  that  he  absolutely  did  not 
indulge  in  any  bad  sex  habits  and  had  not  for  a  long 
time  we  should  feel  inclined  to  believe  from  his  robust 


CASES  READILY  ANALYZED  165 

appearance,  but  he  did  complain  of  local  irritation 
either  prior  to  or  connected  with  his  thoughts  about 
sex  affairs,  particularly  in  school.  This  was  the  part 
of  his  life  that  he  was  repressing  and  fighting.  Billy 
complained  that  sometimes  he  had  headaches,  and 
that  he  felt  extremely  nervous,  that  he  had  definitely 
to  reject  temptations  to  indulge  in  masturbation.  He 
objected  strongly  to  some  careless  words  about  sex 
affairs  uttered  by  his  girl  cousin  and  resented  what 
other  boys  said  in  this  way,  evidently  feeling  it  keenly 
through  what  he  himself  was  attempting  to  conquer. 
It  was  all  a  very  graphic  account  of  an  inner  life  that 
was  being  repressed  as  much  as  possible,  and  of  de- 
sires for  activities  which  were  finding  outlet  only  in 
reactions  of  nervousness  and  mischief. 

When  definitely  asked  about  this  matter  the  parents 
said,  oh,  yes,  they  knew  that  long  ago  a  fellow  about 
twenty  years  old  and  mentally  subnormal  had  told 
Billy  bad  things  and  probably  had  done  them  to  him. 
The  mother  at  first  asked  him  a  little  about  it,  but 
never  made  any  detailed  inquiries.  She  always  thought 
it  was  best  to  let  such  things  alone.  The  father  never 
uttered  a  word  on  this  subject  to  the  boy  or  went  into 
his  life  at  all  with  him.  They  were  very  much  aston- 
ished to  know  that  he  had  ever  dwelled  on  sex  subjects. 

The  parents  frankly  felt  themselves  incompetent  to 
handle  this  matter  when  they  had  taken  the  boy 
home,  and,  after  thinking  it  over,  they  placed  him 
with  an  exceptionally  capable  woman  friend.  She 
reported  that  it  was  clear  to  her  there  never  had  been 
the  right  kind  of  affection  and  confidence  between  the 
parents  and  the  boy.  She  treated  him  as  one  of  her 
own  children  and  talked  with  him  about  the  nature 
of  his  troubles.     Not  only  this,  but  when  the  parents 


166  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

came  to  see  the  boy,  she  took  great  pains  to  educate 
them  concerning  their  proper  attitude  towards  him. 
With  her  he  did  very  well.  Then  Billy  went  home ; 
after  a  time  there  was  some  renewal  of  his  truancy 
and  perhaps  of  his  sex  habits.  A  good  physician  now 
got  hold  of  the  boy  and  saw  him  repeatedly,  once  a 
week.  The  results  of  these  efforts  have  been  admi- 
rable. The  boy's  record  for  over  two  years  has  been 
very  good.  His  parents  report  his  behavior  as  being 
entirely  different.  He  shows  no  more  evidences  of 
meanness  towards  children  and  apparently  has  never 
tried  to  communicate  bad  ideas  to  them.  Even  the 
school  principal  who  earlier  complained  so  bitterly 
about  the  boy  states  that  he  is  causing  absolutely  no 
trouble. 


CHAPTER  IX 

DIFFICULT  CASES 

The  chief  difficulties  in  successful  treatment  of  a 
case  of  misconduct  having  its  genesis  in  mental  con- 
flict are  three :  (a)  Difficulty  in  approaching  the 
problem  with  the  misdoer.  This  may  amount  to  com- 
plete inaccessibility,  (b)  Difficulty  in  getting  proper 
environmental  adjustments  after  exploration  has  been 
adequate.  This  may  be  experienced  even  when  parents 
are  anxious  to  help  and  have  been  informed  of  the 
real  nature  of  the  trouble ;  they  sometimes  are  quite 
unable  to  grasp  the  significance  of  the  facts,  (c)  Diffi- 
culty in  breaking  habits  of  delinquency  which  have 
been  formed.  The  illustrative  cases  in  this  chapter 
show  these  points  clearly. 

Case  12.  The  steady  development  of  a  remarkable 
career  of  misconduct,  showing  a  definite  set  towards 
criminalism,  is  illustrated  in  the  following  instance. 
From  the  failure  in  this  case  there  is  much  to  learn. 
In  spite  of  very  friendly  help  given  this  boy  by  court 
officials  and  others,  he  has  obstinately  pursued  his  own 
path.  It  is  a  good  example  of  everything  being  done 
except  to  discover  the  basis  of  impulse  to  misconduct, 
and  that  could  be  discovered  by  no  ordinary  method. 
During  many  years  this  young  man's  record  of  de- 

167 


168  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

linquency  has  been  piling  up.  It  has  seemed  as  if 
something,  not  himself,  was  forcefully  urging  him  into 
criminality.  One  of  the  striking  features  of  the  case 
all  along  has  been  the  fellow's  own  attitude  towards 
his  conduct;  this  has  rendered  him  absolutely  inac- 
cessible so  far  as  really  sounding  his  depths  is  concerned. 

The  career  of  William  G.,  now  nineteen  years  of  age, 
we  have  ourselves  observed  for  several  years,  and  the 
accounts  we  have  received  of  him  from  relatives  and 
others  cover  a  much  longer  period.  This  boy  began 
stealing  from  home  when  he  was  eight  years  old. 
About  this  time  and  later  he  was  a  truant  occasionally. 
He  could  hardly  be  said  to  have  run  away  from  home, 
however ;  rarely  has  he  been  away  for  a  few  days  and 
nights  at  a  time.  His  early  delinquencies  were  com- 
mitted with  other  boys ;  later  he  has  engaged  in  them 
entirely  alone.  After  the  first  years,  during  which  his 
stealing  was  of  a  petty  variety  from  home  and  other 
places,  he  began  in  larger  measure  to  take  from  stores ; 
he  became  a  sneak  thief  of  pocketbooks  and  other 
articles,  and  he  went  from  one  delinquency  to  another 
in  the  most  deliberate  fashion.  Before  he  was  seven- 
teen he  engaged  in  burglaries,  embezzlement,  and  an 
extensive  scheme  of  forgery.  A  resourceful  fellow,  he 
has  tried  his  hand  at  many  types  of  dishonesty, 
although  there  has  been  no  attempt  as  yet  to  follow 
any  one  particular  line  in  professional  fashion.  We 
have  been  impressed  by  the  fact  that  mixed  in  with  his 
major  transactions  there  has  been  stealing  of  small 
articles  which  would  seem  to  have  little  value  for  him, 
and  these  were  often  taken  in  foolish  ways  that  put 
him  in  more  immediate  jeopardy  than  the  larger  affairs. 

William  has  been  arrested  many  times ;  he  has  been 


DIFFICULT   CASES  169 

before  courts  .at  least  ten  or  twelve  times ;  he  has  been 
sent  already  three  times  to  institutions  for  delinquents, 
and  besides  this,  he  has  often  been  put  on  probation, 
has  had  positions  found  for  him,  and  has  been  specially 
befriended  by  a  judge  and  his  assistants  who  have  tried 
to  reform  him.  Thoroughly  well-intentioned  attempts 
have  thus  been  made  in  many  ways  to  help  the  young 
man. 

There  are  no  great  peculiarities  in  the  physical 
make-up  of  this  young  fellow.  He  is  of  ordinary  size 
and  steadily  growing.  Our  record  shows  many  teeth 
in  poor  condition ;  tonsils  large ;  eyes  rather  swollen 
and  sleepy  looking ;  head  high,  rounded,  with  a  broad 
forehead.  Significant  for  any  student  of  physiognomy 
would  be  the  boy's  mouth,  so  peculiarly  hard  and 
firmly  closed,  in  contrast  to  a  proportionately  small 
and  weak  type  of  chin.  Many  have  commented  on 
the  fact  that  he  appears  obstinate  and  self-contained. 
At  twelve  years  of  age  he  had  already  been  smoking  a 
little  for  a  couple  of  years,  and  he  was  in  the  habit  of 
drinking  three  cups  of  coffee  a  day ;  however,  there 
were  almost  no  signs  of  nervousness.  We  many  times 
noted  that  he  was  a  great  biter  of  his  finger  nails.  As 
we  have  seen  him,  he  has  generally  appeared  serious 
and  depressed  in  a  normal  way  under  the  conditions  of 
being  held  as  a  delinquent,  at  other  times  normally 
buoyant  and  active,  but  on  all  occasions  inscrutable 
beyond  the  point  of  superficial  friendliness. 

We  have  many  evidences  that  William  is  a  very 
capable  fellow.  He  advanced  rapidly  through  the 
grammar  school,  graduating  at  twelve  years  in  spite  of 
occasional  truancy,  and  he  had  done  well  in  as  much 
of  the  high-school  course  as  his  delinquencies  permitted 
him  to  attend.     By  all  he  has  been  regarded  as  bright 


170  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

and  by  some  as  precocious.  On  tests  of  all  sorts  which 
we  gave  him  he  did  very  well,  and  he  enjoyed  problems 
that  demanded  mental  effort. 

However,  there  is  much  more  to  set  down  concerning 
his  mental  and  moral  characteristics  than  can  be  given 
in  the  enumeration  of  test  results  or  what  one  found 
by  conversation  with  him.  When  he  was  only  twelve 
years  old  he  had  already  impressed  experienced  pro- 
bation oflBcers  as  "a  thoroughly  bad  chap,  one  who  will 
be  back  again  in  court."  At  that  age  we  ourselves 
also  recognized  his  peculiarities ;  they  were  particularly 
brought  out  by  his  stealing  a  valuable  article  which  was 
of  no  use  to  him  from  a  woman  who  was  at  that  very 
time  attempting  to  befriend  him.  His  mother  stated 
that  for  three  or  four  years  previously  he  had  been 
"wild  and  spunky"  at  times,  and  then  again  would 
cry  and  promise  to  do  better.  She  herself  brought 
him  first  to  our  attention,  stating  that  she  could  not 
understand  what  was  the  matter  with  him. 

The  history  which  the  undoubtedly  honest  mother 
gave  us  included  nothing  that  seemed  to  account  for 
his  tendencies.  Birth  was  natural,  and  the  pregnancy 
had  been  normal.  He  had  been  a  large  baby  and 
walked  and  talked  early.  With  the  exception  of 
bronchitis  and  measles,  spasms  on  one  occasion,  and  the 
development  of  a  rupture  in  infancy,  which  was  cured 
by  a  truss,  there  seemed  to  be  little  the  matter  with 
him.  The  only  thing  she  could  think  of  was  rare 
complaint  of  headache  and  catching  cold  easily  in  his 
throat,  but  both  she  and  his  teachers  had  noted  that 
something  seemed  to  come  over  the  boy  at  times  in  the 
last  few  years,  when  he  did  not  seem  to  be  paying 
attention  and  did  not  look  well.  For  long  he  had  been 
in  the  habit  of  biting  his  nails  excessively.     The  father 


DIFFICULT   CASES  171 

was  unsympathetic,  occasionally  a  drinking  man,  who 
gave  this  boy  very  little  consideration.  The  other 
children,  all  older,  have  done  well  in  every  way,  but 
have  never  been  close  companions  to  William.  Hon- 
esty is  a  watchword  in  the  family  life.  With  the  ex- 
ception of  a  maternal  uncle  who  was  insane,  no  defect 
in  the  family  history  could  be  ascertained.  In  the 
mother's  pleadings  with  William  she  never  could  get 
anything  out  of  him,  except  that  he  had  temptations 
to  steal ;   he  would  always  promise  to  do  better. 

We  began  our  studies  upon  the  basis  of  the  outlines 
given  us  by  the  mother,  and  since  then  we  have  seen 
the  boy  on  numerous  occasions.  We  have  been  able 
to  carry  out  all  that  an  ordinary  schedule  of  study  of 
the  individual  might  call  for,  but  we  soon  found  that 
we  had  to  deal  with  a  boy  who  would  be  neither  in- 
genuous with  us  nor  frank  with  himself  when  it  came 
to  investigation  of  the  deeper  problems  of  his  inner  life. 
On  many  occasions  he  has  presented  to  us,  as  well  as 
to  others,  his  characteristic  impenetrability.  As  com- 
pared with  other  delinquents,  he  has  been  most  unusual 
in  this  respect.  He  meets  any  attempt  at  deep  inquiry 
with  a  little  toss  of  his  head  or  shrug  of  his  shoulder. 
No  one  has  ever  persuaded  him  candidly  to  face  his 
own  situation.  Once  he  became  friendly  enough  with 
us  to  assert  that  many  times  he  had  temptations  to 
steal  to  which  he  did  not  succumb,  and  that  his  thieving 
had  begun  with  a  bad  crowd  which  had  influenced  him 
when  he  was  about  eight  years  old.  This  was  at  one 
of  our  earlier  interviews  with  him ;  as  time  has  gone 
on,  William  has  become  more  and  more  inscrutable. 
After  arrest  and  in  court,  he  takes  on  almost  a  mask- 
like expression  ;  this  being  quite  in  contrast  to  his  ordi- 
nary facial  mobility.     A  diagnosis  was  presented   in 


172  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

court  from  a  physician  who  had  seen  him,  the  state- 
ment being  that  he  was  "a  highly  nervous  boy  and  a 
thorough  kleptomaniac  "  ;  but,  of  course,  that  explained 
nothing  and  helped  not  at  all. 

After  much  work  early  on  this  case,  we  were  totally 
unable  to  find  out  what  was  in  the  background,  although 
we  were  convinced  that  there  was  a  great  deal  that 
was  significant  in  this  boy's  mental  life.  We  recom- 
mended probation  several  times  in  the  hope  that  his 
trend  towards  delinquency  would  be  checked.  The 
boy  was  found  very  good  positions,  and  in  them  he  did 
well,  but  in  the  midst  of  his  successes  he  would  again 
have  outbreaks  of  delinquency ;  in  fact,  his  worst  de- 
linquencies occurred  when  he  had  the  best  opportu- 
nities. He  gradually  developed  a  more  hardened  atti- 
tude ;  he  tried  to  defend  himself  by  ruthlessly  making 
misrepresentations  about  a  probation  oflBcer  who  had 
done  much  for  him ;  he  insistently  lied  to  the  judge 
and  to  others,  and  demonstrated  a  typical  profes- 
sional attitude  by  his  attempt  to  "bluff"  court  pro- 
ceedings. 

William  has  thus  grown  obstinate  and  hard.  One 
cannot  say  that  he  is  exactly  defiant,  but  he  assumes 
the  most  peculiar  lack  of  concern  about  his  misdeeds 
and  demonstrates  an  extraordinary  trend  towards 
criminality.  He  is  thoroughly  anti-social  in  his  general 
attitude,  although  he  displays  no  grudge  against 
particular  individuals  or  against  society.  In  this  he 
differs  from  some  other  cases  cited,  where  a  feeling 
of  grudge  is  clearly  exhibited.  Even  the  last  time  he 
was  seen  by  us  he  appeared  friendly  enough  to  all,  but 
one  felt  the  superficiality  of  his  very  friendliness.  The 
danger  of  such  a  bright  boy  turning  so  definitely  toward 
criminality  was  all  along  felt,  and  this  was  one  of  the 


DIFFICULT   CASES  173 

reasons  why  such  great  efiforts  were  made  to  give  him 
the  best  chances. 

Not  only  were  many  advantages  given  him,  but  also 
short  punishments  were  tried ;  in  fact,  everything 
was  done  except  to  penetrate  his  reserve  and  find  out 
what  was  back  of  his  delinquent  tendencies.  The 
resistance  to  exploration  was  always  too  strong  for  us 
to  break  down.  Some  early  suggestion  of  possible 
bad  sex  habits  arose  from  his  appearance,  which,  how- 
ever, improved  as  time  went  on.  We  felt  it  significant 
that  from  the  first  William  utterly  refused  to  discuss 
sex  affairs  with  either  his  mother  or  with  us.  As  for 
his  father,  he  never  gave  the  slightest  attention  to  the 
boy,  except  alternately  to  defend  him  from  kindly 
probation  officers  or  to  berate  him ;  he  occasionally 
varied  the  last  by  beating  William.  The  mother 
was  incapable  of  going  far  enough  or  keeping  long 
enough  at  the  task  of  winning  the  boy's  confidence. 
We  ourselves  were  always  met  at  the  important  points 
by  complete  silence.  Much  as  we  suspected  the  deep 
influences  of  early  companionship,  nothing  definite 
about  this  was  ever  found  out.  The  boy's  own  extreme 
reticence  concerning  it  was  in  itself  remarkable.  Still 
more  suggestive  was  the  fact  that  once,  when  he  was 
searched  under  arrest,  a  little  collection  of  obscene 
pictures  was  found  in  his  pockets. 

Possibly  if  all  had  worked  together  in  this  case,  if 
there  had  been  a  really  intelligent  attitude  toward  the 
boy  at  home,  the  underlying  trouble  might  have  been 
discovered,  and  the  extraordinary  career  of  misconduct 
checked.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  it  was  built 
upon  a  basis  of  mental  conflict.  That  this  career  has 
not  been  headed  off  is  a  deeply  regrettable  fact,  both 
for  society  and  for  the  young  man  himself. 


174  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

(I  can  now  add  to  the  above  history  an  account 
of  recent  occurrences  which  further  illustrate  various 
points  already  made  in  regard  to  the  case.  The  young 
man  was  sent  to  an  institution  with  the  idea  that 
perhaps  prolonged  separation  from  society  would 
reform  him.  From  this  place  he  readily  escaped  on 
several  occasions,  but  took  no  pains  to  go  farther  away 
than  his  own  home  and  so  was  speedily  returned.  He 
escaped  for  the  fifth  time  and  obtained  a  good  position, 
working,  however,  under  a  false  surname.  His  oppor- 
tunities now  were  exceedingly  good,  for  his  abilities 
were  recognized,  and  within  a  few  days  he  was  given 
a  place  of  trust.  His  old  impulses,  however,  seized 
him,  and  he  forged  checks  and  cashed  them  in  his  old 
method.  It  needed  no  verv  clever  detective  work  to 
trace  the  uttered  checks  to  William  —  his  physiognomy 
is  so  unusual  that  he  is  very  easily  identified.  Consid- 
ering William's  intelligence,  this  transaction  can  only 
be  regarded  as  utterly  foolish.  It  was  the  result  of 
impulse ;  no  skillful  planning  was  undertaken,  nor  did 
he  attempt  to  avoid  his  ordinary  whereabouts.  We 
chanced  to  see  William  before  the  trial  for  this  last 
offense.  We  found  the  old  superficial  friendliness  and 
the  old  inscrutability.  At  the  preliminary  hearing  he 
chose  to  make  silly  denials  in  the  face  of  complete 
evidence  against  him.  Again  here,  as  always,  William 
could  not,  even  in  his  own  best  interests,  bring  himself 
to  face  reality.) 

Case  13.  Misconduct  that  was  frankly  acknowledged 
to  be  beyond  the  understanding  of  the  parents,  the 
interested  pastor,  and  the  girl's  teacher,  appeared  quite 
clear  in  its  relationship  to  mental  conflict  as  a  cause, 
when  a  rational   approach  of   thorough   inquiry   was 


I 


DIFFICULT   CASES  175 

undertaken,   but   on   account   of   unchanged   environ- 
mental conditions,  the  case  was  long  a  failure. 

A  pastor  of  fine  spirit  from  a  country  town  came  to 
make  an  appointment  for  some  members  of  his  con- 
gregation. The  father  of  Ada  M.,  a  little  girl,  nine 
years  of  age,  had  read  some  articles  in  the  newspapers 
concerning  psychopathic  studies,  and  he  wondered  if 
they  could  be  of  any  help  in  his  child's  case.  Medical 
and  especially  surgical  attention  had  been  given  her, 
but  proved  of  no  avail.  Ada  had  been  stealing  very 
frequently  for  a  couple  of  years  at  least.  She  was  in 
the  habit  of  taking  money  from  home  whenever  she 
could,  and  candy  and  fruit  from  children  at  school, 
and  in  other  ways  had  shown  a  marked  tendency  toward 
petty  stealing.  The  father  thought  that  perhaps 
a  period  of  detention  might  do  the  girl  good.  An 
older  boy  who  used  to  run  away  from  home  improved 
greatly  after  punishment  of  this  sort. 

Sometime  previously  a  surgeon  had  performed  a 
rectal  operation  "to  cure  kleptomania '\  but  Ada  had 
only  been  at  home  from  the  hospital  a  week  when  she 
began  stealing  again.  Her  developmental  history  was 
as  follows :  Pregnancy  was  normal  and  birth  natural. 
She  walked  and  talked  early,  and  with  the  exception 
of  having  some  children's  diseases  lightly  and  a  severe 
attack  of  whooping  cough,  had  never  been  seriously  ill 
until  an  attack  of  appendicitis  a  few  months  prior  to 
the  time  when  we  saw  her.  She  was  operated  on  then 
and  again  made  a  speedy  recovery.  Ada  showed 
certain  nervous  signs  at  home ;  she  was  said  to  have 
attacks  of  excitement,  when  she  clenched  her  fists  and 
cried  and  yelled  with  bad  temper.  Her  school  work 
was  satisfactory,  she  readily  kept  up  to  grade ;  indeed. 


176  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

she  was  regarded  as  being  decidedly  bright  in  her 
studies. 

The  family  belonged  to  a  good,  hard-working  type, 
and  the  children  had  whatever  advantages  could  be 
afforded.  We  could  learn  of  nothing  in  the  family 
history  that  bore  upon  the  problem  of  Ada's  conduct. 
The  other  boy,  who  was  for  a  time  delinquent,  was  not 
known  to  have  influenced  her ;  however,  later  we 
learned  more  concerning  this  boy  and  his  relationship 
to  the  sister.  The  mother  was  a  nervous,  sickly  woman, 
who  freely  acknowledged  her  own  incapacity  for  con- 
trolling her  children. 

From  Ada  herself  we  gained  the  fullest  enlightenment 
concerning  the  details  of  her  continued  delinquency. 
Her  parents  did  not  know  to  what  extent  she  had  been 
involved.  About  three  years  previously  the  family 
had  moved  to  the  town  where  they  now  lived.  Prior 
to  this,  Ada  knew  nothing  whatever  about  stealing. 
In  her  room  at  school  at  present  there  is  a  boy  named 
John,  quite  a  bit  older  and  not  very  smart.  She  had 
become  acquainted  with  him  upon  entering  school  in 
this  town.  It  was  he  who  told  her  first  about  stealing, 
and  she  maintained  that  many  of  the  things  which  she? 
had  taken  she  had  given  to  him.  Now,  there  was  also 
a  boy  in  the  room  by  the  name  of  Sam,  and  he  and 
John  went  much  together.  >Sam,  in  particular,  was 
bad  with  girls  and  had  been  known  to  try  to  engage  in 
sex  affairs  with  them.  In  fact,  he  had  tried  with  her 
and  had  told  her  about  such  things.  The  trouble  with 
John  was  that  she  was  afraid  of  him  because  of  his 
*  threats.  She  had  never  told  her  mother  about  any  of 
this  or  talked  about  it  to  any  one.  She  stated  that  she 
had  had  very  definite  temptations  to  steal  ever  since 
she  had  known  these  boys.     After  the  operation  fu 


DIFFICULT   CASES  177 

appendicitis  she  had  been  taken  from  school  and  felt 
that  she  was  better  able  to  resist  her  temptations 
than  formerly,  although  she  had  not  been  able  to  stop 
steahng  altogether. 

We  found  her  such  a  bright  and  straightforward 
little  girl  who  appeared  desirous  of  helping  herself,  and 
the  nature  of  her  trouble  seemed  so  obvious,  that  we 
went  no  further  in  the  case  than  to  acquaint  the  mother 
and  the  pastor  —  who  again  came  to  us  —  with  the 
gist  of  the  situation.  They  felt  they  could  ask  the 
cooperation  of  a  teacher  who  was  much  interested  in 
the  child  and  of  whom  Ada  was  very  fond. 

About  a  year  later  we  were  again  consulted  about  this 
case  from  a  new  source.  Ada  had  been  stealing  exces- 
sively, and  the  school  authorities  now  had  complained 
about  the  matter  to  the  court  in  the  district.  The 
parents  maintained  that  Ada  had  kept  on  thieving  ever 
since  we  saw  her  last.  She  might  stop  for  a  week  or 
two,  but  she  would  begin  again.  She  took  pencils, 
handkerchiefs,  candy,  money,  and  sometimes  articles 
for  which  she  had  no  use,  things  which  she  would  then 
leave  lying  around  the  house.  She  was  still  showing 
attacks  of  bad  temper,  in  which  she  would  seem  to  get 
rigid,  and  she  would  even  swear.  The  parents  once 
more  stated  that  Ada  was  completely  a  truth-teller 
concerning  everything  except  her  denials  of  theft. 
The  mother  had  noticed  that  Ada  was  sleeping  poorly. 
Our  inquiry  brought  out  that  absolutely  nothing  had 
been  done  to  help  this  child  after  our  previous  study  of 
the  case.  The  pastor  had  left  the  town ;  the  teacher 
whose  aid  was  to  be  sought  felt  that  she  did  not  under- 
stand the  problem  sufficiently  to  give  help  ;  the  mother 
said  she  just  never  could  go  into  the  sex  question  with 
the  girl. 


178  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

We  found  from  Ada  that  she  still  was  going  to  the 
same  school,  and  John  was  still  in  her  room,  but  Sam 
had  been  placed  in  another  part  of  the  school  building ; 
however,  she  sometimes  saw  him  outside.  Sam  still 
endeavored  to  meet  little  girls  in  the  basement, 
although  this  had  been  reported  to  the  teacher.  Ada 
recounted  in  the  same  clear-cut  way  her  early  troubles. 
John  used  to  tell  her  to  steal,  and  she  used  to  give  him 
things.  He  used  to  threaten  her  and  would  particularly 
tell  her  that  he  would  get  Sam  after  her.  She  thought 
much  about  this  and  of  what  Sam  might  do.  The 
words  these  boys  said  came  up  in  her  mind  and  at  night 
time  she  didn't  sleep  well  on  account  of  thoughts  about 
them  and  about  her  own  stealing.  She  claimed  never 
to  have  known  anything  about  the  practice  of  sex 
habits.  Ada  told  how  badly  she  felt  after  she  had 
stolen  and  how  she  wanted  to  stop  thieving,  but  it  was 
just  a  temptation  —  she  saw  things  and  took  them. 
Sometimes  she  took  things  that  she  did  not  care  for. 
She  thought  if  the  family  could  move  away,  and  she 
didn't  ever  see  these  boys,  she  could  forget  about  the 
things  which  they  had  told  her  and  about  stealing  too. 
Over  and  over  she  brought  up  the  idea  that  stealing 
and  these  sex  ideas  were  connected  in  her  mind,  but 
she  did  not  know  how. 

As  we  attempted  to  trace  the  situation  back  still 
farther,  Ada  now  told  us  about  another  boy,  who  had 
himself  been  the  teacher  of  Sam.  This  boy  had  lived 
next  door  to  Ada,  and  he  was  the  one  who  used  worst 
words  of  all.  He  had  offered  Ada  money  if  she  would 
go  somewhere  with  him,  and  she  told  us  the  bad  sex 
word  which  he  had  used.  She  informed  her  mother 
about  this  boy  earlier,  but  she  had  not  told  her  the 
words  which  he  and  Sam  and  John  used  and  which 


DIFFICULT   CASES  179 

came  up  in  her  mind.  Then  there  was  the  delinquent 
brother ;  he  had  once  come  to  her  bed  and  she  had 
screamed,  and  her  father  had  come  and  caught  him. 
(This  seemed  to  be  very  likely  done  under  the  influence 
of  this  other  boy  next  door.)  At  any  rate,  sex  affairs^ 
and  stealing  were  most  intricately  mixed  in  this  girl's 
experiences  and  in  her  mental  content.  She  gave  a 
vivid  idea  of  how  she  had  been  endeavoring  to  repress 
all  of  the  sex  thoughts,  and  how  she  hoped  to  be  able 
to  conquer  her  impulsion  to  steal. 

The  parents  gave  confirmation  of  these  two  events, 
upon  which  they  had  laid  little  stress,  namely,  the  bad 
invitation  by  the  boy  next  door,  which  Ada  had  told 
them  about,  and  the  earlier  affair  with  Ada's  brother. 
Neither  of  these  matters  apparently  had  amounted 
to  anything,  and  the  parents  had  dismissed  the  inci- 
dents from  their  minds.  That  their  daughter  had 
ever  been  dwelling  on  these  things,  or  that  she  was 
having  a  mental  and  moral  fight,  did  not  seem  to 
be  possible  for  them  to  understand,  excellent  people 
though  they  were. 

Another  year  passed,  and  comparatively  unsatis- 
factory results  still  were  forthcoming.  An  intelligent 
person  now  took  hold  of  the  case,  following  our  last 
study  of  it,  and  gave  Ada  much  help.  She  was  placed 
in  another  home  for  a  few  weeks,  and  while  there 
engaged  in  no  stealing  whatever,  but  when  she  returned 
to  her  home,  many  of  the  old  conditions  recurred. 
During  the  following  year  the  boy  who  had  originally 
suggested  bad  things  to  Ada  still  lived  next  door,  and 
John  was  still  going  to  the  same  school,  although  he 
no  longer  plagued  her.  The  report  on  Ada  for  this 
period  states  that  she  would  do  well  for  a  time,  and  she 
no  longer  stole  anything  at  school,  but  her  temptations 


180  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

still  existed,  and  she  did  give  way  to  them  sometimes. 
She  occasionally  not  only  takes  a  little  change  from 
home,  but  she  steals  small  articles  that  have  no  par- 
ticular value  for  her.  She,  then,  has  only  partly  over- 
come her  tendencies. 

The  point  which,  in  spite  of  all  that  we  had  said  to 
the  parents  and  to  others  interested,  does  not  seem 
to  have  been  grasped  in  this  case,  is  that  previously 
exhibited  conduct  tendencies  stand  a  great  chance  of 
being  renewed  by  stimulating  old  association  processes 
in  the  mind.  That  Ada  ever  had  to  see  at  all  these  boys 
who  started  her  original  impulsions  was  unfortunate 
indeed.  From  our  experience  with  others,  and  from 
our  knowledge  that  old  impulsions  are  renewed  through 
seeing  former  companions,  as  in  instances  cited  else- 
where in  this  book,  we  felt  that  in  this  case  essential 
re-educative  measures  demanded,  first  of  all,  a  com- 
plete change  of  environmental  conditions. 

Case  14.  The  following  case  offers  an  illustration  of 
several  points.  Left  under  the  old  conditions  this  boy 
continued  to  be  a  moral  failure,  because  his  father  could 
not  or  would  not  face  the  underlying  problem,  and 
because  there  had  been  a  gradual  development  of 
mental  habits  leading  to  delinquency,  and  because 
only  rarely  is  any  first  exploration  of  mental  conflicts 
effective  without  re-education. 

Anton  B.  at  fourteen  years  was  a  nice  looking,  attrac- 
tive boy,  rather  undersized,  but  with  no  physical 
defect  save  that  of  vision,  which  was  corrected  by 
glasses. 

Mentally  we  readily  found  him  to  belong  in  the  class 
of  those  who  are  quite  up  to  the  ordinary  in  ability. 
He  was  almost  through  the  grammar  grades  and  did 


DIFFICULT   CASES  181 

very  good  work  on  the  several  rather  difficult  tests 
which  we  gave  him. 

Anton  was  bitterly  complained  of  for  truancy,  an 
excessive  amount  of  petty  stealing,  and  running  away 
from  home,  even  as  far  as  to  another  State.  The  boy 
was  characterized  by  his  relatives  as  being  "slick,  sly, 
and  clever."  He  was  said  to  be  an  excessive  liar. 
When  caught  he  confessed,  but  showed  no  remorse. 
He  had  few  friends  and  had  never  been  connected  with 
any  gangs.  He  is  a  great  reader,  often  losing  sleep  in 
order  to  read.  He  began  his  delinquencies  when  he 
was  about  eleven  years  old,  then  taking  small  sums 
of  money  and  keeping  back  change.  From  neighbors 
he  had  taken  a  number  of  articles,  for  some  of  which 
it  would  be  difficult  to  explain  his  desire. 

The  boy's  health  had  been  good  except  for  typhoid, 
when  he  was  about  seven  years  old.  His  birth  and 
early  development  were  normal.  The  family  knew 
that  he  engaged  in  masturbation  at  seven  years  and 
much  effort  was  made  to  cure  the  habit.  Presumably 
this  was  accomplished.  The  father  acknowledged,  how- 
ever, that  he  had  established  no  confidences  with  the 
boy. 

We  were  astonished  to  find  a  lad  who  was  entirely 
frank  when  properly  approached.  The  story  of  begin- 
nings came  out  very  clearly.  When  he  was  about 
seven  years  of  age  he  went  with  a  crowd  of  boys  who 
taught  him  both  to  steal  and  to  masturbate.  His 
parents'  efforts  to  break  him  of  the  habit  were  not 
altogether  successful.  He  had  not  indulged,  he  said, 
with  any  one  else,  nor  by  himself  to  any  extent,  but 
these  things  repeatedly  came  to  his  mind,  especially 
in  the  form  of  certain  words.  He  naively  stated  that 
when  he  fights  off  the  coming  of  these  words  into  his 


182  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

mind,  he  grows  uneasy  and  then  will  steal  the  nearest 
thing  at  hand.  His  father  knew  early  about  his  habits, 
but  he  did  not  know  anything  about  the  words  which 
so  disturbed  him.  Anton  has  wondered  a  great  deal 
about  sex  things,  but  has  never  asked  any  questions. 
At  first  when  he  thought  of  these  things,  he  used  to  have 
a  very  "funny  feeling  inside  of  him  ",  and  then  he  would 
steal.  Now  sometimes  he  thinks  that  he  takes  things 
without  sex  affairs  coming  up  in  his  mind  first,  at  least 
it  seems  so  to  him.  Stealing  has,  he  believes,  grown 
to  be  a  definite  habit  with  him,  so  that  when  he  wants 
money  he  is  tempted  to  take  it  and  plans  how  he  can 
do  so.  He  has  not  been  associating  for  long  with  any 
bad  boys  and  has  no  other  troubles.  His  home  is  happy. 
A  couple  of  months  later  it  was  reported  that  this 
boy  again  had  been  stealing  everything  that  he  could 
lay  his  hands  on  and  had  run  away,  taking  another  boy 
with  him.  The  father  came  in  to  see  us  about  it 
and  stated  that  he  had  been  unable  to  approach  this 
boy  on  the  matter  that  we  outlined  to  him.  Again  the 
boy  acknowledged  to  us  the  troubles  with  his  inner 
mental  life.  He  gave  us  many  evidences  of  being  an 
unusually  bright  boy  with  many  wholesome  interests ; 
for  instance,  when  he  had  run  away  the  last  time,  he 
had  taken  with  him  some  painting  materials,  saying 
that  while  he  was  away  he  thought  he  would  paint  some 
pictures  of  the  country.  Intelligent  though  the  family 
seemed,  it  was  evident  that  no  efficient  treatment  was 
to  be  expected  in  the  home  circle.  They  made  no  more 
effort  to  utilize  the  good  interests  which  the  boy  had 
than  to  gain  with  him  full  knowledge  of  his  inner 
difficulties.  The  boy  was  sent  away  to  a  private 
school ;  the  principal  reported  six  months  later  that 
the  boy  had  done  well  there  from  the  start. 


CHAPTER  X 

CONFLICT  ARISING  FROM  SEX  EXPERIENCES 

We  have  seen  many  instances  where  early  sex  expe- 
riences led  to  excessive  misconduct,  quite  non-sexual, 
through  producing  an  active  mental  conflict.  The 
following  cases  will  serve  to  show  how  the  tendencies  to 
misdoing  evolve.  The  same  type  of  experiences  will 
be  found  also  in  still  other  of  our  cases  used  to  illustrate 
the  special  topics  of  other  chapters. 

Case  15.  This  is  the  case  of  a  severely  delinquent 
boy  whom  his  vigorous  parents  found  absolutely  impos- 
sible to  handle  by  their  methods,  which  included  no 
attempt  whatever  at  understanding  of  causes. 

Otto  R.  was  left  in  the  old  country  with  relatives 
when  his  father  and  mother  came  to  this  country  with 
the  other  children.  He  was  three  years  old  when  they 
came ;  when  we  saw  him  at  eleven  years  old,  he  had 
been  here  eight  months ;  his  parents  went  back  on 
a  visit  and  brought  him  over.  When  they  arrived 
in  this  country  the  father  outfitted  him  very  nicely  in 
American  fashion,  but  within  a  few  days  Otto  began 
a  career  of  stealing  which  had  been  excessive  during 
these  eight  months.  He  had  found  ways  of  disposing  of 
valuable  articles,  such  as  automobile  tires,  to  second- 
hand dealers,  and  he  had  stolen  from  other  boys,  from 

183 


184  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

home,  and  had  even  been  caught  burglarizing  a  house. 
He  took  things  which  seemed  of  very  Httle  use  to  him 
and  sold  them  perhaps  for  a  trifling  amount,  or  hid 
them  away.  Once  he  tried  to  rob  the  pocket  of  a  sleepy 
fruit  vender.  His  delinquencies  of  this  order  already 
mounted  up  into  the  dozens.  He  had  also  been  truant, 
several  times  had  come  home  in  the  middle  of  the 
night,  and  finally  had  run  away  from  home  for  several 
days. 

The  father  and  mother  were  unusually  strong  people, 
who  had  rapidly  become  prosperous  in  this  country. 
Their  measures  of  reward  and  punishment  were  coarse ; 
if  their  children  pleased  them  there  was  liberal  spending 
of  money ;  if  the  children  did  not  do  well  there  were 
harshness  and  severe  beatings.  This  boy  had  been 
very  roughly  treated,  without  any  improvement  in 
his  conduct.  Complaints  had  already  come  in  from 
neighbors  who  objected  to  the  boy's  depredations. 

We  were  informed  that  Otto  had  been  a  remarkably 
healthy  child.  In  his  developmental  history  there  had 
been  in  no  way  any  peculiarity  or  anything  to  set 
him  back.  In  looking  him  over  physically  we  found 
fair  development  and  nutrition.  The  teeth  showed 
some  areas  of  defective  enamel  that,  however,  were 
not  typical  of  lues.  Vision  was  extremely  defective, 
not  more  than  fg  in  each  eye;  there  were  strabismus 
and  complaint  of  frequent  headaches. 

In  the  mental  examination  Otto  passed  tests  well 
enough  so  that  he  could  be  graded  as  of  fair  ability.  His 
school  attendance  in  this  country  had  been  so  irregular 
that  he  had  made  little  advance.  Concerning  heredity, 
we  were  assured  that  there  was  nothing  of  significance. 

These  parents,  who  so  bitterly  complained  of  Otto's 
conduct  and  who  had  punished  him  so  severely,  had  not 


CONFLICT  FROM  SEX   EXPERIENCES     185 

made  the  slightest  inquiry  into  any  possible  causes, 
either  by  patiently  inquiring  from  the  boy  himself,  or 
by  corresponding  with  those  who  knew  him  and  his 
companions  in  the  old  country.  They  did  know 
that  on  account  of  illness  of  the  relatives  he  had  received 
poor  attention  for  a  time  over  there,  and  that  there  had 
been  complaint  of  his  behavior.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  teacher  in  the  school  here  stated  to  the  father  that 
Otto  was  the  best  boy  in  the  room,  and  that  she  could 
not  believe  that  he  was  so  much  of  a  thief.  The  father 
was  nothing  short  of  vindictive  about  the  affair;  he 
was  of  an  aggressive  type  and  had  made  such  a  good 
reputation  and  such  success  that  he  disliked  greatly 
suddenly  to  have  this  trouble  and  burden  thrown  upon 
him.  That  conditions  might  be  bettered  by  a  different 
point  of  view  toward  the  boy  had  certainly  never 
entered  into  his  mind. 

Since  Otto  began  stealing  within  a  few  days  after 
he  had  arrived  in  America,  it  seemed  most  natural  to 
inquire  whether  or  not  he  had  developed  impulses  in 
that  direction  before  he  came.  We  found  no  trouble 
in  getting  at  the  history  of  his  school  and  other  com- 
panionships, and  the  boy  gave  us  a  typical  story. 
He  told  us  that  some  things  did  bother  and  worry  him, 
some  things  that  seemed  very  much  worse  than  his 
stealing,  of  which  he  seemed  inclined  to  make  little, 
so  far  as  his  feelings  towards  it  were  concerned.  The 
worst  were  the  things  that  he  had  seen  and  heard  about 
when  he  was  six  years  old.  Both  boys  and  girls  had 
talked  to  him  of  sex  affairs;  he  had  seen  them  "do 
things  together"  over  in  that  small  town  in  Europe; 
there  was  one  girl  who  talked  to  him  about  it ;  boys 
also  taught  him  masturbation. 

These  were  the  things  which  really  bothered  him. 


186  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

The  account  which  Otto  gave  us  of  his  early  experi- 
ences and  how  they  led  up  to  his  stealing  so  excessively 
was  most  straightforward.  Many  things  were  revealed 
of  which  his  parents  knew  nothing.  A  man  over  there 
who  had  associated  with  the  boys,  some  one  whom 
Otto  had  recognized  instinctively  as  not  being  a  good 
man,  although  he  did  not  know  exactly  what  evil 
things  he  did,  said,  "If  you  haven't  enough  money 
for  what  you  want,  go  and  steal  it."  These  boys 
over  there  did  steal,  although  Otto  made  little  of  this 
compared  to  their  talk  about  sex  affairs.  He  insisted 
that  he  had  never  engaged  in  anything  of  the  kind, 
and  he  would  not  do  it,  but  ideas  about  it  often  appeared 
in  his  mind,  although  he  did  not  want  them  there. 
He  fought  against  these  things  coming  in  his  mind,  he 
ingenuously  told  us,  but  he  could  not  always  succeed 
in  keeping  them  down. 

Otto  seemed  to  feel  positive  that  even  entertaining 
the  idea  of  these  things  was  much  worse  than  stealing. 
When  asked  in  this  reasonable  manner  about  his  trans- 
gressions he  showed  none  of  the  characteristics  of  which 
his  father  had  complained,  namely,  that  he  would  not 
utter  a  word  about  them.  With  us  he  talked  freely 
and  pathetically  about  his  inner  troubles. 

This  was  another  case  where  the  ignorance  and  atti- 
tude of  the  parents  was  an  absolute  barrier  towards 
constructive  measures  being  undertaken.  The  boy  was 
tried  at  home  again,  but  the  father  made  no  efforts  to 
get  a  real  insight  into  the  situation,  and  the  boy  soon 
began  stealing  again  and  running  away.  One  time  we 
saw  him  after  he  had  been  arrested ;  he  was  then  pale 
and  dirty  and  woebegone,  really  suffering  greatly  on 
g'^count  of  his  own  delinquencies.  The  father  had  not 
^ven  procured  the  boy  any  glasses.     He  attempted  to 


CONFLICT  FROM  SEX  EXPERIENCES     187 

treat  him  by  nothing  other  than  by  increased  severity. 
It  was  necessary  then  to  send  Otto  to  an  institution. 

Caae  16.  The  tragic  hfe  history  of  this  boy  brings  out 
powerfully  his  mental  conflicts  derived  in  typical 
fashion  from  sex  experiences,  and  shows  his  struggles 
against  impulses  originating  from  conflicts. 

Abner  B.  was  first  brought  to  us  by  his  mother  when 
he  was  twelve  years  old.  Two  years  later  he  ended  the 
difficulties  of  his  career  by  taking  his  own  life.  We 
may  at  once  acknowledge  and  deprecate  the  fact  that 
there  never  was  a  thorough  analysis  of  his  mental  con- 
flicts;  family  conditions  prevented  this  and  also  the 
utilization  of  what  we  early  ascertained  to  be  the  trouble 
in  his  case.  It  was  plain  from  the  start  that  continua- 
tion of  his  former  environmental  conditions  would  tend 
to  increase  his  mental  struggles. 

Almost  the  first  word  that  we  were  told,  both  by  an 
officer  who  had  investigated  the  case  and  by  the  mother, 
was  that  Abner  would  steal  "everything  he  could  lay 
his  hands  on."  Just  before  we  saw  him  he  brought 
home  opera  glasses  and  a  purse  and  said  that  he  had 
found  them.  He  had  frequently  stolen  money,  both 
from  home  and  elsewhere.  He  took  things  which  he 
wanted  and  things  for  which  it  would  seem  he  had  no 
use.  His  mother  stated  that  he  began  stealing  when  he 
was  six  years  of  age.  Summarizing  his  now  closed 
career  of  delinquency,  we  may  say  that  it  included 
petty  stealing  on  many  occasions,  from  home,  from 
school,  from  places  where  he  was  sent  on  errands,  and 
from  shops  down-town.  On  one  occasion  the  step- 
father wrote  a  letter  to  the  court,  stating  that  he 
objected  to  his  home  being  made  a  storage  place  for 
stolen  goods.     Besides  this,  during  his  last  two  years 


188  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

in  school,  Abner  became  at  times  very  disobedient  and 
truant;  in  fact,  he  was  once  sent  away  to  the  special 
school  for  truants.  He  occasionally  behaved  badly 
at  home,  and  several  times  stayed  away  all  night.  Once 
he  was  away  from  home  for  two  or  three  days. 

Of  great  interest  to  any  thoughtful  student  of  de- 
linquency is  the  attitude  which  this  boy  assumed 
towards  his  own  misconduct.  His  mother  stated  that 
he  never  admitted  his  stealing  unless  he  was  faced 
with  the  proof,  but  we  ourselves  experienced  no  diffi- 
culty in  getting  him  to  enumerate  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  occasions  upon  which  he  had  taken  things.  She 
had  used  every  form  of  punishment  with  him,  and  his 
denials,  undoubtedly,  were  in  self-defense.  Outside  of 
this,  however,  she  had  observed  that  he  often  seemed 
to  be  tremendously  sorry  over  his  stealing,  but  he  did 
not  seem  to  be  able  to  stop  it,  and  even  to  her  it  ap- 
peared as  an  uncontrollable  impulse. 

A  short  time  before  we  first  saw  him,  Abner  had  come 
home  with  a  bottle  of  holy  water  which  he  had  obtained 
from  a  priest.  They  were  not  Roman  Catholics,  and 
yet  he  had  been  to  a  priest  in  the  hope  of  getting  some- 
thing which  would  make  him  good.  After  that  he 
commenced  to  read  his  grandmother's  Bible  —  ap- 
parently making  a  very  definite  effort  to  reform.  A 
little  later  the  boy  wrote  a  letter  to  the  person  in  charge 
of  his  case,  stating  that  he  had  come  to  realize  how 
wrong  it  was  to  steal,  and  that  he  would  never  do  it 
again.  None  of  these  things,  however,  influenced  him 
for  long.  Only  a  couple  of  weeks  after  he  wrote  vol- 
untarily this  letter  descriptive  of  his  self-examination 
and  good  intention,  he  stole  ten  dollars  from  his  mother. 
This  was  in  school  vacation  ;  he  speedily  obtained  work 
and  paid  her  back  the  ten  dollars. 


CONFLICT  FROM  SEX  EXPERIENCES     189 

His  own  feelings  toward  his  delinquency  Abner  ex- 
pressed in  the  most  vivid  fashion.  This  little  fellow 
of  twelve  years  stated  to  us  that  he  had  times  when  he 
wanted  things,  when  "a  sort  of  wave"  came  over  him 
so  that  he  could  not  help  taking  things.  About  the 
opera  glasses,  for  instance :  he  told  us  they  were  in  a 
room  where  he  had  been  on  an  errand,  and  he  had 
looked  at  them;  then,  in  his  own  words,  "I  said  to 
myself,  'No,  I  won't  do  it,'  and  I  got  a  block  away,  and 
something  seemed  to  drive  me  to  go  back  and  get  them." 
He  thinks  he  has  no  special  use  for  many  things  that 
he  takes. 

From  the  physical  standpoint  we  found  nothing  of 
great  significance.  The  boy  was  a  trifle  small  for  his 
age ;  he  had  slightly  enlarged  tonsils  and  crowded  teeth, 
but  there  was  no  sensory  defect,  nor  were  there  symp- 
toms of  any  nervous  disorder;  his  head  was  well 
shaped  and  of  good  size ;  his  eyes  fairly  bright,  and  his 
features  pleasant  and  normally  boyish. 

Our  mental  examination  showed  Abner  to  have  fair 
ability,  but  he  was  unquestionably  inclined  to  be  shift- 
less. He  showed  no  mental  energy ;  to  think  through 
any  task  at  all  difiicult  was  a  great  effort,  and  yet  the 
boy  worked  quietly  and  thoughtfully.  Once  he  laid  his 
head  on  the  table  and  complained  of  being  tired  — an 
unusual  action  for  a  boy.  He  was  given  a  considerable 
number  of  tests ;  the  results  on  them  showed  him  to  be 
a  rapid  and  careless  worker  on  school  tasks,  yet  with 
other  things  which  interested  him  more  he  did  pro- 
portionately better.  As  far  as  tests  for  age-level  were 
concerned,  he  graded  a  trifle  below  his  age. 

We  were  informed  that  Abner  had  never  sufi'ered 
from  any  severe  illness.  Sore  throat  in  the  winter,  and 
measles  and  bronchitis  were  his  only  ailments.     There 


190  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

had  been  no  convulsions,  nor  any  serious  accidents. 
Although  the  mother  was  only  fifteen  years  old  when  he 
was  born,  the  pregnancy  with  him  had  been  normal,  and 
there  had  been  no  special  trouble  at  birth.  The  father's 
family  were  very  little  known  to  the  mother ;  she  could 
tell  us  almost  nothing  of  significance  about  them,  except 
that  a  number  of  them  were  hard  drinkers.  Abner's 
father,  who  was  twenty-four  years  of  age  when  the 
child  was  born,  himself  was  alcoholic,  and  Abner's 
mother  had  been  soon  separated  from  him.  She 
herself  was  a  runaway  from  home  and  preferred,  as  a 
young  girl,  an  irregular  life.  Her  father  was  at  one 
time  alcoholic.  We  noted  that  she  seemed  to  be  a 
woman  of  good  moral  impulses  but  was  distinctly  care- 
less. She  was  a  delicate  type,  fairly  intelligent  and 
apparently  a  very  hard  worker.  Her  home  had  been 
much  broken  up  during  Abner's  boyhood ;  she  had  tried 
two  other  men  in  marriage. 

We  were  enabled  at  the  start  to  partially  analyze 
this  case,  with  very  definite  results.  Unfortunately, 
our  beginnings  were  never  followed  up,  and  our  recom- 
mendations never  carried  out.  We  found  Abner,  for 
such  a  little  fellow,  very  well  oriented  in  regard  to  his 
past.  All  along  there  had  been  much  self-realization 
and  unusually  good  apperceptions ;  he  said  that  he 
remembered  stealing  a  little  box  of  paints  when  he 
was  four  years  of  age,  but  this  was  very  vague  in  his 
mind.  His  mother  had  reminded  him  of  it  so  frequently 
in  evidence  of  the  early  beginning  of  his  delinquent 
career,  that  he  felt  that  he  remembered  it. 

Further  exploration  brought  us  to  the  period  when  he 
was  about  six  years  old,  when  he  had  stolen  a  number 
of  articles.  The  mother  went  over  all  this  with  us 
later,  and  there  seemed  little  doubt  that  this  was  the 


CONFLICT  FROM  SEX   EXPERIENCES     191 

real  beginning  of  Abner's  delinquent  tendencies.  The 
mother  had  already  informed  us  that  she  caught  Abner 
masturbating  when  a  little  boy  and  had  whipped  him 
for  it.  To  us,  at  first,  he  vigorously  denied  knowledge 
of  anything  of  this  sort.  After  he  told  us  the  story  of 
his  stealing,  he  entirely  changed  his  tune  and  revealed 
a  great  deal  of  inner  mental  life  which  had  long  been 
centered  on  sex  affairs.  It  appeared  that  when  he  was 
about  six  years  old,  —  and  we  were  able  to  get  verifica- 
tion of  names,  etc.,  from  the  mother  —  a  girl,  con- 
siderably older,  gave  him  sex  information  and  entered 
into  bad  practices  with  him.  From  this  as  a  starting 
point,  Abner  told  us  about  further  sex  experiences 
and  about  his  early  thoughts  concerning  these  things. 
"I  don't  understand  about  it  yet.  I  was  always 
wondering  about  it.  I  think  about  it  when  I  am 
sleeping ;  I  mean  I  dream  about  it.  I  dream  that 
girls  always  want  me  to  do  it."  Abner  was  very 
sure  that  his  experiences  at  six  years  started  his  mas- 
turbation, and  by  checking  up  dates  we  found  that  it 
was  soon  after  this  that  his  mother  caught  him  at  it 
and  punished  him  severely.  Thenceforth  the  boy 
suffered  frequently  from  temptation,  but  insisted 
that  he  never  had  given  way  very  much.  A  boy  caught 
him  at  it  when  he  was  about  ten  years  old  and  warned 
him  what  would  happen.  Occasional  enuresis,  which 
the  mother  had  told  us  about,  was  the  result  of  the 
sexual  dreams,  the  boy  informed  us. 

Abner's  mother  remembered  Ella,  whom  the  boy 
now  named.  She  had  not  been  aware  that  Ella  had 
Apver  influenced  him,  but  she  knew  Ella  certainly  was  a 
very  bad  girl,  notorious  in  the  neighborhood.  At  these 
first  interviews  Abner  was  never  able  to  dig  up  specific 
memories  regarding  whether  or  not  Ella  taught  him 


192  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

stealing  as  well  as  bad  sex  habits.  She  used  to  "hang" 
about  a  certain  small  candy  store  with  another  girl, 
and  they  used  to  "swear  and  say  bad  words."  Abner 
was  hazy  about  everything  except  the  special  events, 
mentioned  above,  which  made  such  a  deep  impression 
upon  his  mind.  However,  there  could  be  no  doubt, 
both  from  his  story  and  his  mother's  account,  that 
this  was  exactly  the  period  when  he  first  definitely 
began  stealing.  Never  in  our  incomplete  analysis 
did  we  ascertain  any  direct  correlation  between  his 
"waves"  of  impulse  to  steal  and  periods  of  special  sex 
temptation,  as  we  have  in  so  many  other  cases.  If  we 
may  judge  by  other  cases,  however,  it  is  more  than 
likely  that  there  was  causal  connection  between  the 
two. 

There  were  other  elements  in  this  case  which  we  would 
not  minimize.  On  account  of  the  breaks  in  family  life, 
the  boy  had  been  at  one  time  in  an  institution,  and 
thoroughly  confidential  relations  had  never  been 
established  with  his  mother  or  either  of  his  stepfathers. 
After  it  was  discovered  that  he  was  engaged  in  bad 
sex  habits,  and  he  was  once  punished  for  it,  his  mother 
never  approached  him  again  on  the  subject.  She  said 
she  felt  that  she  just  could  not  do  it,  and  her  new 
husband  felt  the  same.  It  was  perfectly  evident  to  us 
that  although  the  boy  made  no  special  complaint 
against  his  family,  he  felt  no  respect  whatever  for  his 
present  stepfather ;  towards  his  mother  he  evinced 
some  affection.  One  of  the  stepfathers  had  been  a 
man  of  loose  talk  and  of  somewhat  loose  reputation, 
and.  from  this  source,  at  least,  there  had  been  renewa|» 
of  the  boy's  ideas  concerning  sex  affairs. 

Whatever  family  affection  may  or  may  not  have 
been  shown  to  Abner,  his  peculiar  experiences  and  needs 


CONFLICT  FROM   SEX  EXPERIENCES     193 

had  never  in  the  least  been  understood,  nor  was  there, 
even  after  we  saw  him,  any  fundamental  effort  made 
to  adjust  the  case.  There  was  further  stealing  on  his 
part,  more  running  away,  some  miserable  suggestions 
of  illicit  sex  affairs  arising  in  his  home  life,  and  more 
striving  to  get  hold  of  himself,  with  frequent  failures. 

A  reliable  account  of  this  boy  during  his  last  two 
years  states  that  at  times  he  showed  a  most  excellent 
disposition,  but  then  again  he  would  fall  back  into  mis- 
conduct. Much  quarreling,  particularly  on  his  account, 
developed  at  home.  When  he  was  found  positions  he 
failed  to  hold  them.  He  finally  sought  to  meet  the 
world  upon  its  own  terms,  and  at  fourteen  years  of  age 
started  housekeeping  for  himself  in  a  little  basement 
room  near  his  mother's  home.  Plis  rent  he  paid  out  of 
his  small  earnings.  After  a  short  trial  of  this  he  evi- 
dently found  the  burden  of  further  strife  against  his 
own  impulses  and  against  an  unkind  world  too  great 
to  bear ;  one  night  he  turned  on  the  gas  and  removed 
the  jet.     He  never  awakened. 


CHAPTER  XI 

CONFLICTS  ARISING  FROM  SECRET  SEX 
KNOWLEDGE 

The  effect  of  illicit  sex  knowledge  acquired  very 
early  in  life  may  be  to  produce  a  severe  mental  con- 
flict, with  vicarious  reactions  following  in  the  form  of 
misconduct.  The  cases  given  below  demonstrate  that 
secret  sex  knowledge  in  early  childhood  may  constitute 
an  unfortunate  "mental  complex",  quite  as  severe  in 
its  effects  as  when  the  original  experience  has  been 
physical. 

Case  17.  As  shown  in  this  case,  even  intelligent 
teachers  in  institutions  and  private  schools  working 
specially  with  young  people  as  problem  cases,  cannot 
offer  the  re-education  and  constructive  measures  that 
are  necessary  in  cases  of  mental  conflict,  unless  there  is 
clear  understanding  of  what  secret  sex  knowledge  may 
mean  for  the  production  of  conduct. 

A  boy  of  eleven  years,  just  fairly  developed  physically 
and  above  the  average  in  ability  and  intelligence,  was 
complained  of  for  disobedience  at  home,  petty  stealing 
from  home  and  shops  and  neighbors,  running  away, 
and  bad  temper. 

We  found  an  intelligent  and  healthy-minded  father, 
and  a  frank,  non-suggestible  boy.     The  former  went 

194 


CONFLICTS   FROM   SEX   KNOWLEDGE     195 

over  several  points  which  he  thought  might  account  for 
the  breaking  out  of  delinquent  tendencies  in  his  boy. 
There  was  a  stepmother,  although  she  had  tried  to  do 
everything  possible  for  the  boy ;  there  had  been  some 
fault-finding  and  working  at  cross  purposes  with  his 
first  wife's  family ;  perhaps  the  boy  together  with 
the  family  had  gone  to  motion  picture  shows  too  fre- 
quently ;  possibly  the  ideas  of  stealing  had  been  ob- 
tained through  the  interfering  suggestion  of  neighbors, 
who  said  the  boy  ought  to  go  to  certain  relatives  and 
take  from  them  a  watch  belonging  to  his  mother ;  other 
members  of  the  family  in  the  past  had  lived  rather 
loosely,  and  the  father  wondered  if  this  meant  something 
defective  in  heredity,  etc.,  etc. 

The  boy,  on  his  part,  soon  showed  that  there  was  a 
great  deal  on  his  mind  that  he  had  never  spoken  of  to 
his  good  father.  There  was  no  trouble  at  home  of  which 
he  complained.  After  thinking  it  over  at  length,  the 
boy  could  tell  us  just  about  how  his  misbehavior  began 
and  about  certain  things  that  had  been  bothering  him. 
He  had  been  stealing  for  a  couple  of  years ;  there  was 
an  older  boy  who  lived  in  the  neighborhood  who  had 
first  introduced  him  to  the  art  of  thieving.  Furthermore, 
the  older  fellow  told  him  other  things  which  had  worried 
him  much,  among  them  words  which  persistently  came 
up  in  his  mind.  Then  there  was  a  girl  friend  of  his 
sister ;  he  had  heard  the  boys  say  that  she  went  to  the 
park  with  them  at  night.  Those  are  the  things  that 
bothered  him  more  than  anything  else.  Wliat  this 
boy  said  to  him  "is  hard  to  forget ",  it  "makes  me  feel 
like  doing  bad  things."  He  heard  about  stealing  and 
about  sex  affairs  at  the  same  time.  He  had  been  much 
discouraged  about  himself ;  he  felt  badly  sometimes 
about  all  this.     He  had  never  given  way  to  bad  habits, 


196  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

but  he  heard  the  boys  talk  about  them,  and  it  made 
him  feel  like  doing  that  as  well.  When  he  was  scolded 
for  taking  a  watch,there  was  so  much  on  his  mind  that 
he  felt  like  dying,  and  he  really  did  get  carbolic  acid  to 
kill  himself,  but  he  was  afraid  when  it  burnt  his  tongue, 
(This  was  an  attempt  at  suicide  that  his  father  had 
told  us  about.)  Later  on  he  felt  better,  but  continued 
to  steal  and  to  be  troubled  about  much  that  he  had  kept 
back  and  of  which  he  would  not  let  himself  think. 

The  story  of  this  boy  was  wonderfully  convincing. 
As  already  stated,  he  was  distinctly  not  a  suggestible 
lad ;  he  stated  what  he  clearly  felt,  and  he  repeated  it 
to  his  father  and  to  us  without  equivocation. 

The  father,  good  man  though  he  was,  found  himself 
unable  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  situation,  and  the  boy 
was  packed  off  to  a  good  private  school.  The  regime 
there,  which  has  proven  successful  with  scores  of  other 
boys,  did  nothing  for  this  lad,  and  he  ran  away  from  the 
school  several  times  and  got  into  further  trouble.  His 
ideas  of  stealing  flooded  back  upon  him,  and  on  one  of 
his  expeditions  he  committed  a  major  burglary.  Be- 
cause no  better  solution  of  the  case  offered  itself,  he  was 
finally  sent  away  to  a  state  industrial  school. 

Case  18.  The  following  case  is  that  of  a  very  bright 
and  vivacious  little  girl,  brought  to  us  at  such  a  tender 
age  that  we  could  hardly  allow  ourselves  to  believe  that 
so  young  an  individual  had  stolen  so  much.  The  story 
of  her  mental  conflict  rang  as  true  as  if  she  were  a 
thoroughly  self-conscious  adult;  the  essentials  of  her 
experiences  were  verified. 

Nima  H.  was  six  and  one-half  years  old.  On  the 
physical  side  in  every  way  she  appeared  quite  normal. 
She  looked  very  well  and  was  strong  and  active.     She 


CONFLICTS   FROM   SEX   KNOWLEDGE     197 

readily  did  mental  tests  for  her  age  and  showed  good 
ability  in  many  ways.  Regarding  other  characteristics, 
she  showed  herself  to  be  voluble,  self-confident,  and  a 
tremendous  little  falsifier. 

Developmental  history  was  entirely  negative.  It  had 
been  good  in  every  way.  Of  heredity  we  cannot  say  so 
much.  The  mother  was  a  high-strung  and  confessedly 
neurotic  author  —  a  brilliant  woman,  who  kept  her- 
self going  largely  by  the  stimulation  of  coffee  and  tea. 
The  father  of  Nima  had  died  when  she  was  very  young 
and  then,  on  account  of  the  mother's  nervousness,  the 
child  had  lived  in  some  four  or  five  households,  one  after 
another,  until  the  mother's  marriage  again  two  years 
previous.  The  mother  herself  had  lost  her  own  parents 
early  and  undoubtedly  was,  as  she  herself  said,  a 
spoiled  child.  Nima's  father  had  been  a  thoroughly 
healthy  man,  and  the  child  was  said  to  resemble  him  in 
complexion,  manner,  etc.  From  this  most  intelligent 
family  we  heard  nothing  else  of  significance  pertaining 
to  heredity.  It  was  hinted  that  a  paternal  aunt  had 
been  accustomed  to  take  things  that  didn't  belong  to 
her,  but  there  were  no  substantial  data  on  this  point. 

Much  more  important,  it  seemed  to  us,  was  the  fact 
that  Nima  had  lived  about  in  different  households  where 
she  had  largely  been  spoiled.  The  mother  frankly 
acknowledged  that  she  was  much  to  blame  for  the  lack 
of  discipline.  When  she  had  the  care  of  Nima  she  had 
been  too  indulgent  with  her,  and  even  nowadays  inter- 
fered with  attempted  correction  by  the  stepfather. 
She  could  not  stand  his  punishing  the  child  any  more 
than  she  could  attempt  it  herself.  Of  course,  this  had 
not  started  Nima  on  her  career  of  stealing,  and  yet  it 
certainly  must  have  interfered  with  the  proper  man- 
agement of  the  case.     The  parents  were  really  desperate 


198  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

about  the  situation  since  it  had  taken  on  such  large 
proportions.  They  wanted  to  know  what  could  be  the 
matter  with  this  little  girl  that  she  should  show  such 
definitely  delinquent  tendencies. 

The  specific  account  of  Nima's  misconduct  included 
the  fact  that  she  had  been  stealing  for  over  a  year,  and 
that  she  had  taken  many  scores  of  articles.  She  had 
taken  things  at  home  and  from  other  houses ;  she  had 
taken  things  and  hidden  them  —  things  that  she  could 
not  possibly  use.  The  mother  stated  that  no  doubt 
the  things  taken  were  for  the  most  part  attractive; 
even  two  umbrellas  that  Nima  recently  had  stolen 
were  perhaps  more  or  less  desired.  Nima  liked  parasols, 
but  because  she  often  tripped  and  hurt  herself  she  had 
not  been  allowed  to  have  one  lately,  and  perhaps  that 
was  the  reason  why  she  took  a  child's  umbrella  from 
school,  brought  it  home,  and  hid  it  under  the  porch. 
But  then  she  took  it  with  her  to  Sunday  school  on  a 
sunshiny  day  and  brought  still  another  one  home  and 
hid  them  both  under  the  porch.  The  next  day  she  took 
one  umbrella  to  school  and  left  it  there.  The  teacher 
later  in  the  week  put  it  on  the  piano  and  asked  whose 
umbrella  it  was.  Nima  stated  that  it  was  hers,  that 
she  had  forgotten  it,  and  her  papa  said  she  must  bring  it 
home.  Nima  had  taken  pennies  from  newspaper  stands, 
pencils,  medicines,  powder  bags  from  satchels,  pocket- 
books,  money  from  neighbors'  houses,  etc.  She  had  re- 
peatedly opened  pocketbooks  when  she  had  the  chance ; 
she  had  often  stolen  things  from  other  pupils.  She 
had  made  it  a  business,  also,  to  arouse  the  sympathy 
of  strangers;  she  had  obtained  money  from  them  by 
telling  them  that  her  parents  were  very  poor.  She 
would  go  to  the  window  and  call  out  "you  hurt  me", 
even  when  no  one  was  in  the  room  with  her.     She  had 


CONFLICTS   FROM   SEX   KNOWT^EDGE     199 

told  friends  that  her  parents  fed  her  on  bread  and 
water  and  that  she  was  whipped  continually.  Nima 
blamed  bruises,  which  she  had  received  in  other  ways, 
to  the  bad  treatment  of  her  stepfather.  She  was  dis- 
tinctly secretive  in  her  feelings  and  ideas.  She  had 
been  found,  both  by  her  teachers  and  her  parents, 
to  be  a  great  liar.  With  the  exception  of  evidences  of 
her  being  spoiled,  all  the  above  excessive  misbehavior 
had  appeared  in  the  last  year.  (This  was  an  important 
point  for  us,  but  it  had  not  seemed  to  occur  to  the 
parents  that  this  might  be  the  fact  about  which  a  study 
of  the  genesis  of  her  delinquency  might  center.) 

The  following  is  a  short  account  of  the  results  of  the 
first  interview.  Nima,  of  course,  knew  that  she  was 
brought  to  us  to  have  her  case  studied,  and  she  showed 
the  "nerve"  that  her  parents  said  she  always  displayed ; 
she  was  afraid  of  nothing. 

"They  got  to  taking  things  ;  they  got  to  doing  it  and 
that  made  me  do  it.  They  did  it  before  I  did.  Jim 
und  Amy  one  day  went  in  our  barn,  Jimmy's  grand- 
toother's  barn ;  he  gave  the  horses  too  much  hay. 
He  went  and  hid  and  hit  and  spit  and  kicked.  There 
was  a  hole,  and  he  played  with  glass  and  threw  it  and 
cut  her  finger,  and  threw  her  down  in  there.  Her 
mother's  name  was  Mrs.  K."  (etc.)  .  .  .  "They  were 
inside  Amy's  yard ;  she  had  a  little  play-house,  there 
was  cans  and  glass  in  front  "  (etc.,  etc.  Nima  is  most 
voluble).  .  .  .  "He  touched  her  and  asked  her  to 
touch  him.  She  did  it,  she  touched  his  arm."  At 
this  point  Nima  very  evidently  began  to  back  out  of 
the  story  she  had  started  to  tell  us  and  became  evasive. 
After  a  little  time  we  urged  her  to  be  more  confidential. 
We  came  to  know  later  that  this  was  a  method  that 
Nima  pursued  in  regard  to  most  of  her  delinquencies ; 


200  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

she  would  tell  a  little  and  then  back  down  on  it.  Her 
natural  inclination,  thus,  was  to  be  frank,  but  she 
quickly  censored  her  statements.  In  a  few  minutes 
Nima  gave  the  following  : 

"She  took  off  his  cap  and  then  his  rompers,  and  then 
he  asked  her  to  take  off  his  other  clothes,  and  they 
went  inside  the  play-house,  and  she  took  all  his  clothes 
off,  and  that  is  all  I  saw  them  do.  He  took  off  her 
clothes.  Then  they  laid  down  on  the  little  couches  they 
had  there ;  both  on  one  couch.  I  was  in  there.  Yes, 
he  took  off  my  clothes  too,  and  we  three  laid  down. 
Then  Minnie  and  Roland  came  along,  and  they  had  to 
take  off  their  clothes.  Jim  and  Amy,  they  did  it ;  I 
think  they  kept  doing  it  every  day.  Jimmy's  mother 
was  hunting  for  him,  and  she  came  and  saw  him  all 
undressed,  all  bare,  and  she  gave  him  a  scolding,  and 
she  put  him  to  bed  in  the  house.  They  didn't  get  any 
chance  to  do  it  to  me  more  than  once.  Jim  was  the  one 
who  tried  to  do  it." 

To  appreciate  the  force  of  the  above  story  it  should 
be  known  that  all  of  it  was  in  response  to  our  question, 
"How  long  have  you  been  taking  things.'^"  We  had 
not  the  slightest  previous  clue  to  the  other  incidents 
involved.  Coming  back  gently  to  the  same  question 
later,  we  obtained  the  following  : 

"Jimmy  took  Amy's  toys  and  he  hided  them  in  his 
old  shed  and  went  and  hid  them.  He  took  some  of  his 
mother's  powder,  that's  all  I  know  of.  He  didn't  tell 
me,  but  he  took  me  out  there  and  played  with  the 
things  which  he  took." 

We  then  asked  Nima  about  her  own  mental  life,  what 
she  thought  about,  and  whether  these  things  came  up 
much  in  her  mind.  As  before,  we  got  a  voluble  re- 
sponse : 


CONFLICTS   FROM  SEX  KNOWLEDGE     201 

"Think  about  it?  Yes,  I  think  about  it  every  day 
—  all  day.  Yes,  last  night.  I  don't  think  about  Jim 
and  Amy,  but  about  myself  and  about  my  being  good. 
Yes,  I  think  about  the  play-house.  I  don't  know  what 
they  meant  —  about  their  taking  off  their  clothes  — 
I  didn't  ask  what  they  meant.  Yes,  I  think  about  it, 
yes,  for  a  minute  in  the  night.  I  think  about  Jim  and 
Amy,  about  what  they  steal,  and  everything,  and  be- 
sides after  that  I  forgot ;  I  mean  I  forgot  to  be  not 
stealing.  They  touch  themselves.  They  went  and 
took  —  well  —  they  went  and  took  some  of  their 
clothes  off.  I  wonder,  but  I  don't  know.  I  am  worry- 
ing because  sometimes  I  think  I  forget,  and  then  I 
wonder.  It  comes  in  my  head  to  take  things  when 
I  forget." 

We  asked  Nima  to  tell  us  about  those  umbrellas.  "I 
forgot  and  stoled  them.  I  forgot  about  stealing.  I 
took  two  umbrellas,  two  umbrellas  because  I  thought 
I  could  play  one  day  that  I  had  a  little  sister  and  had 
one  belonging  to  her  and  one  to  me.  The  teacher  said 
that  I  didn't  need  it,  and  I  said,  'Please  give  me  my 
umbrella.'  I  told  her  my  papa  told  me  to  be  sure  and 
bring  it  home." 

By  this  time  we  had  received  confirmation  of  some 
of  the  above  statements  from  the  parents,  who  knew 
the  corroborating  circumstances  which  are  recounted 
below.  Going  on  further  with  the  matter  and  the  situ- 
ation, as  suggested  by  her  parents,  in  her  present  neigh- 
borhood —  for  all  of  the  above  had  happened  where 
she  had  previously  lived  in  the  South  —  Nima  con- 
tinued : 

"Nobody  talked  to  me  about  it.  I  never  told  mama 
and  papa  about  this  —  about  Jim  and  Amy.  They  did 
those  things  two  times  when  I  was  with  them.     Jim 


202  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

touched  me ;  Amy  did  it  too.  Jim  put  his  body  near 
me  when  he  didn't  have  any  clothes  on.  I  didn't  have 
any  on.  Yes,  I  think  about  it  every  day.  Are  my 
mama  and  papa  here  now  ?  I  thought  they  went  home." 
(Nima  laughs  merrily.)  "Jim  used  to  say,  'Oh,  you 
nasty  kid.'  Well,  I've  forgotten  just  what  he  did  say. 
They  said  to  —  to  —  they  wanted  to  lay  down  —  they 
was  tired.  I've  forgotten  what  they  said,  to  —  to  — 
so  they  could  play  —  they  wanted  to  play  undressed. 
Yes,  I  think  about  that  word,  but  I  don't  know  what  it 
was,  I've  forgotten  —  I'm  trying  to  think  —  undressing 
—  and,  and  —  they  wanted  to  rest.  Sounded  to  me 
like  they  said  they  was  tired.  Jim  said  he  wanted  me 
to  undress  and  then  lay  on  the  couch  and  then  we  — 
we  would  go  to  sleep.  He  said  he  would  put  me  on  the 
couch  and  then  he  would  undress  me  —  after  he  would 
undress  me  he  said  we  would  play.  He  showed  me  how 
to  play.  Then  we  both  went  to  sleep.  He  called  it 
being  —  he  thought  it  was  being  naughty  —  yes,  that's 
the  word."  ("Then  you  sometimes  think  about  the 
word.")  "Not  very  often.  I  thought  about  it  two 
weeks  ago,  but  I've  forgotten.  He  called  it  being, 
being,  being  —  ...  They  taught  me  stealing  — 
that's  the  bad  word." 

We  tried  still  later  to  get  Nima  to  tell  us,  or  to  tell 
her  mother,  or  any  one,  what  the  words  were  that  came 
up  in  her  mind.  But  all  we  got  from  her  was  that 
they  did  use  "the  bad  word."  "They  called  it  nasty, 
just  that." 

Going  again  into  the  question  of  stealing  with  her : 
Jim  was  certainly  the  first  person  she  knew  who  stole. 
"He  took  one  of  Amy's  baby  dolls,  and  she  played 
with  him  and  the  doll  in  his  barn."  This  was  before 
the  event  of  the  play-house.     Asked  again  about  her 


CONFLICTS   FROM   SEX   KNOWLEDGE    ^>Oii 

thoughts  :  "Yes,  I  think  about  those  things  every  day. 
I  can't  forget  them.  I  think  of  them  mornings  and 
nights  and  afternoons  —  sometimes  in  school." 

From  the  parents  we  obtained  a  most  accurate  ac- 
count of  this  child's  former  life  with  the  dates  and  events 
that  were  needed  to  justify  us  in  giving  credence  to 
Nima's  story.  They  knew  in  a  vague  way  that  she  had 
affairs  of  this  sort  in  her  head.  She  had  told  her  step- 
father that  a  little  boy  here  in  Chicago  had  undressed 
in  front  of  her  and  what  an  awful  thing  it  was.  The 
parents  had  worried  about  it  at  the  time  and  then  later 
found  out  that  it  had  not  happened  at  all.  In  regard 
to  the  earlier  incidents,  we  now  heard  that  Nima  had 
had  very  few  playmates  until  she  was  over  four  years  of 
age.  From  then  until  a  year  ago  she  had  associated 
much  with  Amy  and  Jim.  The  parents  at  that  time 
heard  reports  that  Amy  had  stolen  some  things  and 
asked  Nima  to  do  so.  They  also  knew  that  Jim  and 
Amy  were  caught  doing  sex  things,  and  at  that  time 
fearing  that  Nima  might  learn  something  of  the  sort, 
they  kept  her  away.  From  what  they  heard  of  these  two 
other  children,  both  of  whom  came  from  exceptionally 
good  families,  they  surmised  that  sex  affairs  between 
Jim  and  Amy  had  been  going  on  for  some  time  before 
Nima  associated  with  them.  But,  of  course,  it  had 
never  entered  the  head  of  these  elders  that  Nima  knew 
anything  of  the  sort. 

Further  analysis  of  the  situation  was  attempted  by 
the  clever  mother,  and  more  verification  was  obtained. 
A  verbatim  report  of  her  conferences  with  the  child 
was  rendered  to  us,  and,  as  the  mother  states,  it  shows 
that  Nima  feints  verbally  with  almost  the  skill  of  an 
adult.  It  was  this  way  about  all  of  her  confessions; 
at   first   there  was   some   little  acknowledgment  and 


204  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

then,  continuing,  a  denial  and  finally  more  acknowl- 
edgment. 

The  neurotic  mother  proved  herself  incapable  of 
building  upon  the  foundations  which  we  had  prepared. 
She  interfered  at  every  point  with  the  work  of  the  step- 
father. A  further  record  of  Nima's  stealing,  which 
was  begun  again  in  short  order,  reads  like  extracts  from 
the  stock  list  of  a  department  store.  In  her  school  desk 
were  found  five  bottles  of  paste,  scissors,  letters ;  she 
had  hidden  a  child's  fur  tippet  in  the  sleeve  of  her  coat. 
She  had  stolen  some  valuable  jewelry,  entering  a  neigh- 
bor's house  for  the  purpose ;  she  took  a  gold  pin  belong- 
ing to  her  mother,  a  chain  and  locket,  a  bracelet,  and  a 
ring ;  she  took  money  whenever  she  could,  and  on  ac- 
count of  this  she  was  expelled  from  a  second  school  for 
continuous  stealing  from  the  teacher's  table  and  from 
the  children's  pocketbooks. 

No  rational  punishment,  no  discipline,  no  re-educa- 
tion whatever  was  carried  out  in  this  case  up  to  the  time 
that  I  last  heard  of  the  family,  when  they  left  this  part  of 
the  country.  A  complete  analysis,  that  might  have  been 
so  easy,  was  thus  never  finished,  and  sound  treatment  of 
the  offender  never  took  place.  The  impossible  attitude  of 
the  child's  own  parents  continually  stood  in  the  way  and 
offered  a  psychic  environment  that  remained  disastrous. 

Case  19.  A  few  months  of  extreme  delinquency  (as 
the  result  of  mental  conflict  based  upon  disturbing  sex 
knowledge)  was  followed  by  exploration  of  the  causes 
and  entire  cessation  of  the  bad  conduct. 

Delia  B.,  eleven  and  one-half  years  old,  was  reported 
on  account  of  her  dramatic  stealing  escapades.  After 
some  investigation  we  were  able  to  fix  the  time  of  the 
beginning  very  clearly,  at  some  five  months  previously. 


CONFLICTS   FROM   SEX   KNOWLEDGE     205 

She  had  been  stealing  from  her  own  home  and  hitely 
had,  in  amateur  burglar  fashion,  broken  into  several 
houses  and  taken  money  and,  in  one  place,  a  watch. 
Also,  from  one  woman,  whom  the  family  knew  well, 
she  had  repeatedly  stolen  amounts  ranging  up  to  one 
dollar  at  a  time  and  bought  candy  and  clothes  and 
a  pocketbook.  She  had  been  suspected  of  having 
entered  a  neighbor's  house,  partly  because  she  had  so 
vividly  described  a  man  whom  she  had  claimed  to  have 
seen  go  in  there.  When  she  was  accused  later  of  this, 
she  went  into  a  sort  of  hysterical  attack,  became 
rigid  and  speechless,  and  that  night  stayed  away  from 
home  until  she  was  at  a  late  hour  found  shivering  under 
a  porch.  On  another  occasion  she  remained  out  until 
nearly  midnight  and  told  a  long  story  of  having  been 
kidnapped  by  a  man  who  had  locked  her  into  a  room  and 
of  how  she  got  away  by  jumping  out  of  the  window. 
Once  more  she  stayed  away  half  the  night,  and  it  was 
never  known  where  she  was. 

She  secured  work  for  herself  after  school  at  a  stranger's 
house,  who  really  did  not  want  her,  but  pitied  her,  and 
Delia  explained  her  coming  there  by  stating  that  her 
mother  abused  her  terribly  and  did  not  give  her  enough 
to  eat.  When  Delia's  mother  was  away  from  home, 
she  took  all  of  her  belongings  and  went  over  to  this 
woman's  house  to  live.  When  her  mother  traced  her, 
she  screamed  and  said  she  would  kill  herself  if  she  had 
to  go  back.  During  this  period  Delia  was  truant  a  few 
days  from  school. 

The  case  was  taken  up  by  experienced  social  workers, 
who  ultimately  saved  the  situation.  The  mother  came 
to  us  and  proved  to  be  an  exceptionally  strong  character. 
From  her  we  learned  that  the  father  was  an  excessively 
alcoholic  and  immoral   man,   who  had  been  arrested 


206  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

over  and  over  again  for  non-support,  and  who  finally 
deserted  the  family  about  five  years  previously.  The 
mother,  in  great  contrast,  was  a  neat,  refined,  and 
honest  woman.  She  had  long  ago  secured  a  position 
and  had  worked  steadily  for  her  family.  On  neither 
side  was  there  any  mental  abnormality  known.  The 
father  came  from  a  decidedly  good  family,  as  did  the 
mother  also.  An  older  boy  was  backward  in  school, 
largely  on  account  of  very  bad  physical  conditions ; 
when  tested  by  us  he  proved  to  be  normal  mentally, 
and  since  then,  as  his  circumstances  have  been  bettered, 
he  has  done  well. 

The  developmental  history  included  a  story  of  great 
privation  during  the  period  of  the  pregnancy  with 
Delia,  when  the  father  was  drinking  to  excess  and 
abused  his  wife;  indeed,  the  mother  suggested  that 
conception  took  place  during  intoxication.  However, 
development  after  birth  was  fairly  normal.  There  was 
never  a  serious  illness.  She  walked  and  talked  early 
and  never  suffered  from  convulsions. 

In  regard  to  her  companionships,  the  mother  told  us 
of  an  older  girl  who  lived  in  the  neighborhood  who  was 
known  to  be  bad  in  sex  ways,  but  the  mother  insisted 
that  Delia  was  never  upset  by  this  or  by  boys  saying 
bad  things  to  her  or  by  their  making  advances.  "All 
the  neighbors  say  you  can  judge  by  her  actions  that 
there  is  no  fear  of  her  getting  spoiled." 

At  our  different  interviews  with  Delia  she  always 
reiterated  that  she  had  never  stolen  until  she  saw  some 
pictures  about  stealing  and  burglaries  at  the  moving 
picture  shows.  She  told  us  that  this  was  the  summer 
previously  and  that  when  she  was  at  home  alone  much, 
as  she  had  to  be  on  account  of  her  mother  being  away 
working,  the  idea  of  stealing  came  up  a  great  deal  in  her 


CONFLICTS   FROM   SEX   KNOWLEDGE    207 

mind.  "  It  always  comes  up  when  I  am  thinking  about 
things.  I  don't  see  anything  hke  pictures  in  my  mind ; 
no,  I  don't  hear  anything,  but  when  it  comes  up  in  my 
mind  I  thought  I'd  steal." 

(Delia's  mother  had  suspected  that  the  picture  shows 
might  be  affecting  her  badly,  and  so  for  several  months 
before  we  saw  her  she  had  not  been  allowed  to  go  to 
them.) 

When  we  tried  to  go  farther  into  this  story,  we  at 
once  found  a  very  great  deal  of  repression  about  the 
affairs  of  last  summer  and  what  Delia  had  been  thinking 
about  mostly  then.  Next  we  turned  to  more  recent 
events  and  inquired  about  the  circumstances  of  this 
amateur  burglary,  when  eighteen  or  twenty  dollars  was 
said  to  have  been  taken.  Delia  said  that  she  was  with 
a  girl  in  the  house  that  was  robbed  on  the  day  previous 
to  the  robbery,  and  this  girl  had  talked  to  her  about  bad 
things  with  boys.  They  were  down  in  the  basement, 
and  Delia  saw  a  key  there  and  took  it.  About  that 
time  Delia's  mother  came  by,  and  nothing  more  was 
said.  The  girl  told  Delia  that  she  did  bad  things  in 
the  basement,  but  didn't  exactly  say  what.  It  was 
the  next  day  when  the  people  of  the  house  were  all 
away  that  Delia  used  the  key  to  get  in.  She  seemed 
much  more  concerned  to  get  the  substance  of  this  girl's 
conversation  off  her  mind  than  to  deal  with  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  stealing. 

After  some  time  we  were  able  to  learn  about  the 
previous  summer.  It  seemed  that  there  was  a  period 
then  when  she  was  undergoing  a  great  deal  of  mental 
stress.  Her  older  brother  had  talked  to  her  about  sex 
affairs  and  perhaps  had  done  even  more,  but  we  were 
never  able  to  ascertain  just  what  this  was,  although 
later   the    brother   himself   said   that   something   had 


208  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

gone  on  between  them.  We  learned  from  Delia's 
mother  that  a  man  had  exposed  himself  to  the  little 
girl  during  the  previous  winter  at  a  certain  spot  under 
the  elevated  railroad.  The  fellow  was  found  to  be  given 
to  this  sort  of  thing,  and  he  was  heavily  sentenced  upon 
the  testimony  of  Delia  and  some  one  else,  but  the  affair 
did  not  seem  to  bother  Delia  at  all.  From  the  brother 
we  ascertained  that  during  the  summer,  when  she  was 
walking  with  him  under  the  elevated,  she  asked  him 
about  how  babies  were  born,  etc.,  and  it  was  perhaps 
just  after  that,  when  the  two  were  together  at  home, 
that  something  occurred.  We  were  never  able  to  ex- 
actly fit  this  to  a  day  with  the  period  when  she  saw  the 
pictures  of  the  burglaries,  but  there  was  no  doubt  that 
it  was  about  the  same  time. 

Delia  showed  conclusively,  In  our  later  interviews, 
that  sex  affairs  were  what  was  really  on  her  mind,  but 
she  had  entirely  repressed  them  within  herself.  The 
affair  with  the  other  girl  in  the  basement  and  what  it 
led  to  was  typical  of  her  reactions  toward  these  repressed 
matters. 

We  asked  in  this  case  that  the  highly  sensible  mothei 
and  a  most  intelligent  social  worker  go  into  the  subject 
of  sex  affairs  with  Delia  and  attempt  re-education. 
This  was  done,  and  it  was  all  that  was  done.  The 
outcome  has  been  most  gratifying.  It  is  now  three 
years  since  Delia's  period  of  stealing,  and  the  girl  has 
progressed  well  in  school  and  has  never  stolen  another 
object,  so  far  as  known  by  her  mother  or  any  one  else. 
She  nowadays  is  reported  as  being  a  particularly  busi- 
nesslike little  girl,  who  takes  great  care  of  the  two 
younger  children,  gets  her  mother  hev  lunch,  and 
who  is  most  ambitious  for  further  advantages  in 
education. 


CONFLICTS  FROM  SEX  KNOWLEDGE    209 

Case  20.  It  sometimes  happens  among  intelligent 
people  that  every  sort  of  study  is  given  to  a  case  of  de- 
linquency except  analysis  of  the  mental  life.  This  was 
so  in  the  following  instance : 

Tom  S.  we  saw  first  when  he  was  fourteen  years  of 
age,  an  active,  responsive  boy.  His  delinquencies  had 
lasted  over  a  period  of  about  five  years  and  had  been 
exceedingly  numerous.  He  had  stolen  much,  in  many 
sorts  of  ways ;  he  had  even  snatched  a  pocketbook  on 
a  crowded  street.  Tom  had  often  been  truant,  and  he 
had  also  run  away  from  home,  taking  trips  to  other 
towns.  He  had  evolved  a  shrewd  method  of  getting 
goods  by  misrepresentation,  having  them  delivered  to 
an  address  and  telephoning  to  the  place,  stating  that 
it  was  an  error  and  a  boy  was  coming  for  the  goods. 
The  intelligent  father  and  mother  were  desperate  about 
the  case. 

We  found  Tom  only  fairly  developed  for  his  age. 
He  was  a  mouth  breather  from  occluded  nasal  passages  ; 
his  facial  expression  was  typical.  Together  with  this, 
we  noted  a  poorly  developed  and  somewhat  asymmet- 
rical chest.  No  sensory  defect.  Many  carious  teeth, 
although  he  had  received  considerable  dental  care.  In 
spite  of  these  conditions,  he  was  an  active  boy  of  fair 
strength.  His  nose  had  been  operated  on  just  previ- 
ously, and  in  many  ways  the  care  which  had  been  given 
him  was  admirable. 

On  the  mental  side  he  was  easily  to  be  diagnosed  as 
of  fair  ability,  with  no  essential  peculiarities.  He  did 
many  tests  well.  His  backwardness  in  school  was  ac- 
counted for  quite  ingenuously  by  the  boy,  who  stated 
that  he  found  other  things  more  interesting.  He 
was  a  frank,  attractive,  and  well-oriented  lad.     We  feel 


210  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

it  highly  significant  that  the  boy  himself  stated  that  he 
wanted  to  break  away  from  his  habits  of  delinquency 
and  attain  a  new  moral  status. 

A  very  intelligent  and  detailed  history  was  forth- 
coming from  his  parents.  We  could  learn  of  no  points 
of  significance  in  the  family  history.  The  father  had 
made  a  considerable  study  of  this  lad  and  his  traits, 
and  had  taken  him  to  physicians  to  get  whatever  light 
they  could  throw  upon  the  case.  Several  other  children 
were  all  reported  normal  and  were  giving  no  trouble. 
The  family  life,  we  heard,  was  pleasant ;  the  father 
insisted  that  this  boy  had  been  given  many  healthy 
amusements ;  on  the  other  hand,  he  had  been  punished 
and  whipped  severely  at  times.  Tom  was  regarded  as 
the  healthiest  of  all  the  children,  since  he  could  stand 
hardship  extremely  well.  He  walked  and  talked  early, 
and  developed  normally  in  every  way,  except  for  the 
trouble  caused  by  his  nasal  occlusion,  which  the  parents 
had  allowed  to  go  on  year  after  year  without  seeing  a 
specialist.  One  doctor  finally  said  the  boy's  weak  will 
was  caused  by  his  nose  being  in  bad  condition.  A  phre- 
nologist had  said  that  he  lacked  will  and  concentration. 
The  father  insisted  the  trouble  was  "with  the  boy's 
reflective  faculties",  and  he  was  also  "poor  in  powers 
of  restraint."  "He  does  not  seem  to  know  what  fear 
is,  or  ever  to  think  of  results." 

Neither  the  parents  nor  the  school  people  thought 
that  the  fact  that  Tom  was  only  in  the  sixth  grade  signi- 
fied anything  but  his  stubbornness ;  he  seemed  normal 
in  every  way.  He  was  said  to  be  full  of  ideas,  to  have 
ready  conceptions,  but  not  to  advance  far  with  them. 
The  parents  stated  that  "when  the  boy  is  by  himself 
his  mind  seems  to  be  off  on  something."  It  was  known 
that  he  had   been   with   bad   companions,   but   their 


CONFLICTS   FROM   SEX  KNOWLEDGE     211 

specific  influence  upon  him  in  any  deep  sense  was  not 
investigated. 

Tom  readily  acknowledged  all  the  delinquencies  that 
his  parents  and  the  ofiicers  told  us  about.  He  said  that 
years  ago,  before  he  was  ten,  his  companions  had 
started  him  in  little  ways  of  stealing.  He  and  another 
boy  used  to  go  out  "junking",  —  they  would  pick  up 
things  in  alleys  at  first  and  then  take  things  from  yards 
to  sell.  "This  was  the  way  it  started  and  then  they 
could  never  check  me.  F.  used  to  follow  meat  wagons, 
and  once  he  stole  a  cash  box  from  one.  He  wanted  me 
to  steal  and  go  in  with  him  and  then  he  would  get  the 
benefit."  Then  the  boy  went  on  to  tell  us  about  the 
companions  of  those  early  days.  "It  all  comes  up  in 
my  mind  all  the  time ;  that  was  all  I  thought  of  in  school, 
and  I  couldn't  study,  and  that's  what  I  got  sent  away 
from  school  for.  It  would  be  always,  what  am  I  going 
to  do  this  afternoon,  and  am  I  going  to  steal  something, 
and  what  am  I  going  to  get,  and  all  about  girls,  and  like 
that.  I  can  see  it  right  in  my  mind.  My  mother  says 
I  will  make  an  artist.  ...  I  never  read  much  about 
stealing,  only  what  I  saw  in  the  papers.  I  don't  get 
that  on  my  mind.  Once  in  a  while  I  have  seen  robbing 
pictures  in  the  shows,  but  I  don't  remember  them ; 
I  always  forget  them.  Even  a  cowboy  round-up  —  I 
forget  that.  Have  had  some  books  from  the  library 
about  boys  that  run  away  from  home,  but  I  don't  like 
reading  much  now.  Have  seen  pictures  of  bad  girls, 
the  R.  boy  had  them.  Only  once  in  a  while  they  come 
up  in  my  mind." 

From  this  he  proceeded  to  tell  most  elaborately  about 
sex  affairs,  which  he  had  either  witnessed  or  heard  about 
in  this  same  early  companionship.  "All  the  kids 
around  there  talked  about  that,  and  most  of  them  did 


212  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

these  things.  Didn't  hear  anything  else  from  them. 
It  bothered  me  some.  I  think  about  it  some.  ...  I 
wouldn't  study  —  I  had  something  else  on  my  mind. 
I  think  of  that  all  the  time  in  school,  about  stealing  and 
about  those  other  things.  I  want  to  go  out  to  a  reform- 
atory and  get  those  things  out  of  my  head.  .  .  .  I've 
been  treated  too  good  at  home.  .  .  .  That  F.  fellow 
is  in  jail  right  now.' 

Further  inquiry  showed  pretty  conclusively  that  this 
boy  had  never  been  sexually  immoral  or  engaged  to 
any  extent  in  bad  habits.  He  had,  then,  effectively 
repressed  actions  of  this  sort,  but  it  was  most  clearly 
evident  that  he  had  replaced  the  impulse  to  sex  affairs 
with  those  of  stealing,  and  had  gone  much  farther  into 
thieving  than  these  boys  who  were  so  immoral  in  other 
ways.  The  father  looked  up  his  companions  and  found 
this  to  be  the  case ;  he  also  heard  that  they  had  been 
teachers  of  other  boys  in  these  evil  sex  affairs.  The 
parents  had  known  nothing  of  this  before,  nor  had  their 
study  of  the  boy,  nor  any  examination,  brought  out 
this  essential  fact,  namely,  that  the  boy  had  much  in 
the  mental  life  that  was  constantly  being  repressed. 

Tom's  own  attitude  towards  himself  was  most  inter- 
esting. He  not  only  showed  that  he  was  above  the 
average  in  introspective  ability,  but  his  desire  for  a  dif- 
ferent mental  life,  when  the  temptations  to  delinquency 
might  be  removed  with  the  cause,  was  most  uncommon. 
After  our  exploration  he  willingly  discussed  the  matter 
with  his  intelligent  father.  The  boy  was  sent  away  to 
a  private  school,  where  he  won  an  admirable  record. 
He  since  has  proven  himself  stable  and  intelligent  in 
employment. 


CHAPTER  XII 

CONFLICTS    CONCERNING    PARENTAGE    OR 
OTHER  MATTERS 

We  have  observed  mental  conflicts  about  parentage 
at  the  root  of  various  forms  of  misconduct.  Emotions 
are  bound  to  be  stirred  by  finding  out  unsuspected 
facts  concerning  the  identity  of  one's  parents,  and 
repression  in  children  following  such  a  discovery  is 
prone  to  give  rise  to  outbreaks  of  misdoing.  I  could 
give,  by  way  of  illustration,  many  cases  in  detail  (Cases 
6  and  33  also  have  the  problem  of  parentage  in  the 
background),  but  short  surveys  of  a  few  will  be  all 
that  is  here  necessary  to  demonstrate  the  main  point 
for  diagnosis  and  treatment. 

I  have  earlier  stated  that  mental  conflicts  are  not 
necessarily  centered  on  ideas  or  experiences  of  directly 
personal  sex  import.  The  main  determining  factor 
is  arousal  of  emotion,  and  if  this  occurs  in  relation  to 
something  other  than  sex  matters,  and  there  is  repres- 
sion, a  complex  is  established  and  conflict  made  pos- 
sible. Some  indication  of  what  other  factors  may  be 
active  in  producing  conflicts  is  given  by  the  last  three 
cases  in  this  chapter.  But  even  in  these  instances 
the  reader  will  note  that  my  endeavor  to  find  cases 
of  mental  conflict  altogether  free  from  emotional 
disturbance  about  sex  affairs  has  not  been  completely 
successful. 

213 


214  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

Case  21.  A  small  colored  boy  for  five  years  has 
been  a  great  truant  and  runaway  from  home  and  a 
petty  thief.  He  has  been  held  in  institutions  several 
times,  but  whenever  he  returns  to  his  home,  which  is 
a  good  one,  there  is  always  renewal  of  the  same  type 
of  anti-social  conduct.  It  is  specially  notable  that  the 
boy  suffers  much  as  the  result  of  this  behavior;  he 
sleeps  wherever  he  can,  sometimes  without  bedding 
on  cold  nights,  and  he  frequently  goes  hungry. 

We  saw  him  first  after  he  had  been  acting  in  this 
strange  fashion  for  a  year  or  so,  and  then  he  was  only 
ten  years  old.  The  supposed  father  was  a  big,  soft- 
hearted colored  man,  who  was  making  a  good  living. 
The  mother  was  a  nagging,  high-tempered  woman, 
who  kept  an  immaculate  home.  We  found  the  boy 
poorly  developed,  but  physically  otherwise  normal; 
mentally,  he  demonstrated  a  very  active  mind.  Even 
a  short  observation  proved  his  unsociability.  When 
he  ran  away  he  did  not  care  for  other  human  beings, 
children  or  grown-up  people.  Beyond  this  he  showed 
great  determination  and  exceedingly  little  fear,  for  a 
small  boy. 

From  the  lad  we  obtained  a  story  of  dissatisfaction 
with  home  life,  but  that  seemed  in  no  way  to  justify 
his  seeking  far  greater  hardships.  It  was  only  after 
several  interviews  that  he  told  us  that  some  other 
people  had  suggested  to  him  that  this  man  and  woman, 
on  account  of  their  deeper  color,  could  not  possibly 
be  his  parents.  He  brooded  over  this  for  long.  To 
us  he  said,  "That  black  man  is  not  my  father." 

The  boy  and  his  informant  were  right.  A  colored 
woman  who  was  a  servant  in  a  home  of  wealth  be- 
came pregnant  by  the  young  man  of  the  family.  She 
gave  up  the  baby  to  these  foster  parents,  who  were 


CONCERNING   PARENTAGE   ETC.       215 

to  pose  as  his  real  parents.  Such  was  the  history  as 
given  by  the  good  foster  father. 

For  this  boy,  with  his  active  mind  and  sensitive 
temperament,  the  world  has  been  all  wrong  ever  since 
he  has  found  this  out.  The  lame  explanations  of 
these  good  foster  parents  have  never  established  a 
right  parental  relationship  for  him.  The  big,  kindly 
colored  man  loves  the  boy  above  everything;  he  has 
no  other  children,  but  he  never  can  give  the  boy  what 
he  wants. 

Various  officials  and  institutions  and  social  organi- 
zations have  taken  a  hand  in  trying  to  modify  this 
boy's  conduct  during  the  last  four  years.  Each  time 
when  he  returns  home  after  detention  elsewhere  he 
apparently  finds  the  old  ideas  unbearable.  He  does 
not  react  by  vicious  conduct  at  home  or  even  by  any 
demonstration  of  scorn ;  he  finds  expression  for  his 
feelings  by  again  running  away.  Our  latest  reports 
still  state  that  the  home  itself  is  unusually  good.  It 
has  been  impossible  in  this  case  even  to  suggest  means 
for  checking  this  boy's  impelling  ideas  without  unjus- 
tifiably severing  the  family  relationships.  A  state 
industrial  school  has  now  finally  taken  charge  of  this 
lad  for  a  long  period.^ 

Case  22.  An  astonishing  situation  was  found  to  be 
underlying  the  six  months  or  so  of  violent  dehnquency 
of  a  boy  of  sixteen  whom  we  studied.  He  had  sud- 
denly discovered  —  mostly  from  her  own  unguarded 
hints  in  anger  —  that  his  supposed  older  sister  was 
really  his  mother.  This  boy's  reactions  as  expressed 
in  delinquency  were  most  remarkable  and  violent. 
His  mother  herself,  fearing  that  this  knowledge  might 
be  the  force  that  was  raging  within  him,  came  to  us 

*  See  footnote  on  page  2^5. 


216  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

after  his  arrest  and  begged  us  to  explain  the  facts  to 
the  boy.  It  was  as  she  had  suspected.  He  had  said 
nothing,  he  had  tried  to  down  his  f eehngs  of  resentment, 
he  had  tried  to  avoid  facing  the  facts.  He  had  given 
way  to  an  astonishing  amount  of  vicious  conduct 
which  caused  his  arrest  on  several  occasions.  After 
this  analysis  with  us  and  a  short  period  of  further  un- 
settled behavior,  the  young  man  was  able  to  readjust 
himself  and  check  the  impulse  to  misconduct. 

This  case  may  sound  too  extraordinary  to  seem  of 
much  worth  for  our  general  thesis,  but  it  is  a  fact  that 
we  have  known  of  an  exactly  parallel  instance. 

Case  23.  A  good-looking,  delicate-featured,  remark- 
ably bright  and  well-educated  colored  girl  of  seventeen 
caused  no  end  of  trouble  by  running  away  from  home 
and  stealing.  This  girl  was  reported  as  never  being 
in  any  trouble  until  her  outbreak  a  year  previously. 

When  we  studied  this  girl  we  found  her  quite  as 
clever  as  she  was  reputed.  Going  into  the  genesis  of 
her  troubles  we  heard  from  her,  also,  that  up  to  a  year 
previously  she  had  been  quite  non-delinquent.  Since 
this  time  she  had  been  much  troubled  on  account  of 
knowledge  which  came  as  a  great  shock  to  her.  A 
woman  who  had  long  known  the  family  told  her  that 
the  people  with  whom  she  had  grown  up  were  not  her 
parents ;  that  her  father  was  a  white  man  and  her 
mother  lived  in  another  city.  Almost  immediately 
after  the  girl  learned  these  facts,  she  ran  away  and 
obtained  work  as  a  maid.  When  she  was  found,  she 
refused  to  go  back  home,  but,  unfortunately,  asso- 
ciated with  bad  companions  and  was  tempted  into 
stealing  from  shops.  After  a  time  she  was  returned 
to  her  home  by  oflScials,  who  knew  nothing  of  the  true 


CONCERNING   PARENTAGE   ETC.       217 

inwardness  of  the  situation.  After  trying  it  for  a  few 
weeks  she  again  ran  away,  and  this  time  went  to  see 
her  own  mother.  The  foster  parents  by  now  had 
made  a  bare  acknowledgment  of  the  true  facts,  trying 
to  persuade  the  young  woman  to  Hve  with  them.  In 
spite  of  all  they  had  done  for  her,  she  said  that  she  felt 
indifferently  toward  them,  and  they,  in  turn,  had  no 
confidence  in  her.  After  coming  from  her  trip  to  see 
her  mother,  again  she  tried  to  live  w4th  her  foster 
parents  on  the  basis  of  the  old  adjustment.  This 
ended  by  her  running  away  once  more  and  stealing 
a  considerable  sum  of  money  for  her  own  up-keep 
while  living  in  a  hotel.  She  was  then  sent,  wpon  her 
own  request,  to  a  home  for  delinquent  girls. 

Case  24.  One  of  the  most  tragic  lives  we  have  ever 
known  —  now  ended,  and  perhaps  happily,  with  the 
death  of  the  girl  at  twenty  years  of  age  —  was  that 
ensuing  from  unusually  mixed  parentage.  An  intel- 
ligent, English-speaking  Chinaman  married  an  Ameri- 
can woman  of  no  mean  ability.  One  of  their  children 
was  a  girl,  who  developed  splendidly  both  physically 
and  mentally.  She  was  an  exceptionally  bright  girl, 
who  at  fourteen  had  already  commenced  a  delinquent 
career  which  only  ended  with  her  death.  No  doubt 
adolescent  instability  and  temperament  were  largely 
at  fault,  and  perhaps  had  she  lived  she  might  have 
recovered  herself  morally.  But  beginning  certainly 
as  early  as  twelve  years,  she  had  been  a  victim  of 
inner  conflict  concerning  her  parental  relationships, 
particularly  to  this  man  who  had  bequeathed  her  his 
oriental  features.  The  fact  that  she  was  different, 
so  obviously  different,  from  other  girls  attending  the 
public  and  private  schools  to  which  she  went,  and  that 


218  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

there  were  many  little  whisperings  about  her,  served 
greatly  to  accentuate  her  inner  distress.  Her  capabili- 
ties and  ambitions  were  great,  but  how  was  she  to 
satisfy  them  ?  As  a  matter  of  fact,  neither  the  mother 
nor  I  could  ever  find  out  that  any  great  social  discom- 
forts came  to  this  girl ;  the  struggle  was  all  within. 
She  behaved  most  extravagantly  as  a  direct  reaction 
to  her  own  feelings,  of  the  depth  of  which  she  had  rarely 
given  any  intimation  at  home.  With  us  she  essayed 
to  remember  and  to  reveal  all  that  had  gone  on  in 
her  mind  for  years  back :  How  could  her  mother 
have  married  this  man  ?  Was  she  really  this  woman's 
child?  To  what  could  she  attain  with  this  sort  of 
stigma  upon  her?  Did  she  not  properly  belong  to  a 
free-living  stratum  of  society  ? 

This  girl  wandered  and  wavered.  She  tried  reli- 
gion, and  she  tried  running  away  from  home  and  liv- 
ing with  other  people ;  she  assumed  a  Japanese  alias 
and  tried  to  make  a  new  circle  of  acquaintances  for 
herself.  She  knew  of  her  father's  dissolute  habits; 
this  knowledge  she  long  kept  to  herself,  but  it,  too, 
had  its  influence  upon  her.  She  was  early  immoral. 
Her  life  for  the  last  five  or  six  years  was  one  constant 
turmoil  of  repressed  ideas  and  attempts  at  readjust- 
ment. 

Case  25.  In  this  remarkable  instance  a  certain 
early  experience  with  the  father  proved  most  influ- 
ential upon  behavior.  The  mother  of  this  little  boy 
was  not  aware  until  our  study  of  the  case  that  he  had 
knowledge  of  an  event  which,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  he 
witnessed  years  before. 

Giving  this  case  history  in  the  briefest  form,  we  may 
say  that  Jamesie  T,  was  brought  to  us  at  eight  and 


CONCERNING  PARENTAGE  ETC.       219 

one-half  years  of  age,  with  the  statement  that  he  ex- 
hibited the  most  extravagant  tendencies  towards 
thieving.  This  misconduct  had  begun  when  he  was 
only  six  years  of  age.  Enumeration  of  his  thefts 
would  cover  pages ;  they  ranged  from  taking  pennies 
from  newspaper  stands  to  amateur  burglary,  as  when 
he  crawled  through  a  window  into  a  neighbor's  house 
and  stole  a  purse.  He  had  stolen  so  often  at  school 
that  he  had  been  expelled ;  he  had  taken  a  gold  watch 
and  money  from  the  pockets  of  different  people.  For 
considerable  periods  stealing  was  practically  a  daily 
affair  with  him. 

We  found  the  boy  in  very  good  general  physical 
condition,  without  discoverable  defect  or  ailment  of 
any  kind.  On  the  mental  side  Jamesie  proved  him- 
self to  be  what  the  school  people  said  he  was  —  almost 
brilliant.  Although  so  mischievous  he  was  regarded 
as  the  brightest  boy  in  his  class.  On  tests  with  us  he 
passed  considerably  above  his  age. 

The  mother's  main  thought  was  that  this  boy  showed 
evidences  of  criminalistic  inheritance.  His  father 
came  from  a  family  of  delinquents  and  was  himself, 
as  she  found  after  she  married  him,  a  thoroughly  bad 
man.  She  had  not  lived  with  him  since  the  boy  was 
about  five  years  of  age;  at  that  time  her  husband 
deserted  her  after  taking  from  her  a  considerable 
sum  of  money. 

We  (juickly  found  an  important  point  in  connection 
with  this  case,  of  which,  however,  the  mother  already 
knew.  Jamesie  had  been  placed  in  a  boarding  school 
and  there  Martin,  a  mentally  defective  boy,  had  at- 
tempted sex  perversions  with  him  and  talked  to  him 
much  about  taking  things  from  the  village  store;  in 
fact,  Jamesie  had  seen  this  older  boy  stealing.     When 


220  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

we  asked  him  what  came  in  his  mind  when  he  thought 
of  steahng,  Jamesie  promptly  answered  that  Martin 
did.  He  got  to  thinking  about  Martin,  and  that 
would  start  the  idea  of  stealing.  He  told  his  mother, 
it  seems,  about  Martin's  bad  conduct,  and  she  removed 
him  from  the  school,  but  he  did  not  tell  her  that  he 
himself  had  there  begun  masturbation.  The  boy, 
during  our  interviews  with  him,  gave  many  evidences 
of  the  usual  inhibitory  phenomena.  "I  always  think 
of  Martin,  and  I  start  in  doing  these  things,  taking 
things.  He  told  me  about  some  words,  what  he  did 
to  me.  I  forget  what  he  called  that,  I  forget  that 
word." 

The  mother  later  called  our  attention  to  the  fact, 
however,  that  unfortunate  though  this  experience  was, 
she  really  had  sent  Jamesie  to  this  boarding  school 
because  he  already  had  been  stealing,  and  she  thought 
that  there  he  might  learn  better  things.  Analyzing 
with  this  bright  and  frank  lad  his  earlier  experiences, 
we  came  to  something  of  importance  which  antedated 
altogether  his  own  stealing.  Asked  who  was  the  first 
person  he  saw  stealing  or  who  had  made  him  think  of 
such  things,  he  answered,  "I  saw  my  father  away 
back  go  and  take  my  mother's  money.  I  never  forget 
that  I  saw  him  do  it.  It  was  my  mother's  money; 
I  saw  him  take  the  money  out  of  a  drawer.  I  remember 
his  taking  it ;  I  don't  forget  it,  I  always  know  that." 

From  his  mother  we  found  that  the  boy  gave  us  an 
account  of  a  true  incident.  Her  husband  had  stolen 
her  money  when  she  was  out  of  the  room  and  then 
left,  never  to  return.  There  was  a  great  deal  of  excite- 
ment, undoubtedly,  at  the  time ;  the  boy  had  repressed 
altogether  his  natural  reactions  to  the  affair.  The 
emotional  background  of  this  experience  must  have 


CONCERNING   PARENTAGE   ETC.       221 

been  very  strong;  a  complex  was  established,  and  a 
conflict  ensued.  The  second  experience  of  impor- 
tance with  the  boy  who  instructed  him  in  sex  matters 
and  in  stealing  added  fuel  to  flames  already  started. 
For  the  understanding  of  the  case,  it  must  be  empha- 
sized that  according  to  both  the  boy's  frank  story 
and  the  mother,  who  watched  over  him  very  carefully, 
the  practice  of  masturbation  was  entirely  repressed 
after  he  returned  home.  Then  it  was  that  he  renewed 
with  violence  his  habit  of  stealing. 

The  outcome  of  this  case,  which  at  first  seemed  so 
difficult,  so  far  has  been  most  gratifying.  The  mother 
was  intelligent  enough  to  perceive  the  necessity  for 
re-education.  The  boy  had  frankly  explored  his 
inner  troubles,  but  we  felt  that  his  established  habits 
would  be  hard  for  him  to  conquer,  just  as  habits.  He 
was  placed  in  an  entirely  new  environment,  in  a  private 
home.  He  is  regarded  there  as  a  very  dear  little  fellow. 
Close  observation  shows  cessation  of  bad  sex  habits. 
He  has  not  stolen  anything  at  all  for  many  months. 

Case  26.  Here  is  illustrated  the  disturbing  effect 
of  knowledge  or  belief  that  older  members  of  the  im- 
mediate family  are  secretly  engaging  in  misconduct. 
This  case  also  shows  that  stubbornness  and  obstinacy 
sometimes  may  be  extreme  enough  to  be  considered 
during  childhood  and  adolescence  as  definite  delin- 
quencies. We  have  found,  over  and  over  again,  that 
too  much  stress  in  explanation  of  this  may  be  laid  upon 
temperamental  qualities  ;  underlying  features  of  mental 
content  and  of  mental  conflict  are  often  overlooked. 

James  H.  was  complained  of  in  court  because  of  his 
desperate  stubbornness.  At  fourteen  years  of  age 
he  was  a  fairly  developed  and  altogether  normal  boy 


222  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

from  the  physical  standpoint,  with  the  exception  of 
sHght  imperfections  of  the  teeth  which  indicated  defec- 
tive early  development.  Mentally  the  boy  proved 
himself  of  decidedly  good  capacity,  a  firm-minded 
youngster,  who  had  evolved  quite  a  philosophy  of  life. 

We  first  saw  this  boy  after  he  had  been  refusing  to 
obey  his  parents  and  had  been  showing  great  obstinacy, 
both  at  school  and  at  home,  for  several  months.  To 
be  sure,  he  had  once  had  trouble  in  the  school  a  couple 
of  years  previously,  but  then,  as  we  found  out  definitely, 
the  boy  was  well  within  his  rights.  He  made  this 
point  to  us  at  the  very  first,  and  his  school  record 
showed  it  to  be  correct.  We  saw  nothing  to  the  case 
except  that  the  boy  seemed  to  have  conceived  a  dis- 
like for  his  high-school  course  and  wanted  to  go  to 
work ;  he  seemed  a  manly,  independent  boy,  with- 
out bad  habits.  His  stubbornness  was  easily  per- 
ceived, for  at  first  he  would  say  nothing  at  all  to  the 
court  officials  or  to  his  parents  in  the  presence  of  others. 
For  whole  hours  he  absolutely  refused  to  speak,  al- 
though his  emotions  could  be  observed  as  tears  rolled 
down  his  cheeks.  To  our  mind  he  demonstrated  a 
certain  strength  of  character,  even  though  it  was 
misdirected. 

The  parents  were  apparently  very  decent  people, 
mindful  of  the  boy's  best  interests.  We  learned  of 
nothing  in  the  developmental  history  or  heredity 
that  bore  on  the  case,  but  we  did  observe  the  father 
to  be  himself  a  very  strong-minded  type  of  man.  It 
was  particularly  stated  that  the  boy's  spells  of  stub- 
bornness came  in  streaks  and  showed  mostly  at  home, 
when  he  would  absolutely  refuse  to  obey  his  people. 
There  has  been  no  trouble  with  the  behavior  of  the 
other  children.     We  advised  that  the  boy  be  allowed 


CONCERNING   PARENTAGE   ETC.       223 

to  follow  his  inclinations  and  go  to  work,  since  it  was 
evident  that  he  might  readily  develop  a  strong  anti- 
social feeling,  such  as  we  have  observed  others  of  his 
kind  do  under  like  circumstances. 

About  three  months  later  this  case  had  to  be  reviewed. 
The  boy  had  done  well  for  a  time  at  his  employment 
and  then  had  shown  signs  of  his  old  recalcitrancy; 
this  time  he  stayed  away  from  home  and  slept  out  in 
a  yard  for  two  or  three  nights.  By  the  officer  who 
took  charge  of  him  and  by  others  he  was  observed 
again  to  be  one  of  the  most  stubborn  and  obstinate 
boys  ever  seen.  For  hours  he  would  speak  to  no  one ; 
no  impress  could  be  made  upon  him  at  these  times. 
It  was  after  this  that  we  were  once  more  asked  to  see 
him,  and  the  parents  again  recounted  their  troubles 
with  the  boy.  They  could  not  understand  him  any 
more  than  others  could.  For  a  time  he  would  do  well 
in  every  way,  and  suddenly  his  demeanor  might 
change. 

This  time  we  were  astonished  to  meet  a  different 
response.  The  boy  evidently  now  appreciated  our 
inquiring  point  of  view,  and  after  a  time  told  us  that 
previously  he  had  lied  to  us  about  the  causes  of  his 
difficulties.  The  trouble  had  not  been  with  his  school, 
as  he  had  said ;  that  was  merely  an  explanation  that 
he  had  given  to  throw  us  off  the  track.  He  hesitated 
to  tell  us  by  what  his  distress  had  been  caused,  but 
wished  us  to  understand  that  there  was  something 
wrong  which  all  along  had  been  deeply  afflicting  him. 
"I  could  tell  if  I  wanted  to  and  make  a  lot  of  trouble." 
His  father,  whom  we  called  in  consultation,  decided 
that  it  was  best  to  have  this  trouble  unearthed,  what- 
ever it  was,  if  the  boy  thereby  could  be  helped.  After 
deliberation   that   lasted   some   days,    this   thoughtful 


224  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

lad  decided  that  he  would  tell,  first  writing  down  the 
information  in  a  few  words  and  asking  us  to  speak 
to  his  father  about  it.  This  method  was  evidently 
dictated  more  by  his  own  natural  feelings  in  the  matter 
than  by  any  sense  of  the  dramatic,  for  the  affair  he 
had  to  tell  was  of  very  serious  import.  In  the  home 
lived  several  grown-up  relatives,  involving  whom  the 
boy  made  a  charge  of  immorality  that  shook  the 
family  to  its  depths.  He  had  inadvertently  heard 
something  at  home  during  the  last  year  that  made 
him  suspicious,  and  subsequent  attention  to  evidences 
led  him  to  feel  positive  as  to  the  facts.  This  was 
what  he  had  been  repressing  for  many  months ;  this 
was  the  knowledge  that  he  had  hardly  let  himself 
think  about,  that  reacted  in  this  strange  taciturnity 
and  obstinacy. 

The  mechanisms  and  behavior  in  this  case  are  not 
altogether  easy  to  understand,  but  yet  we  may  assume 
that  in  a  boy  of  his  temperament,  long  before  recog- 
nized as  egocentric,  self-assertive,  and  anything  but 
weak,  the  reaction  would  be  towards  further  growth 
of  his  strong  characteristics.  He  perceived  the  value 
of  silence,  he  felt  the  undesirability  of  breaking  up  the 
family ;  his  obstinacy  reflected  well  his  scorn  for  the 
immorality  that  he  believed  to  be  going  on.  Measur- 
ing it  all  in  terms  of  what  the  boy  was  and  what  he 
believed,  one  could  hardly  feel  that  his  behavior  was, 
after  all,  anything  but  rational.  His  repression  of 
what  came  to  him  as  a  shock  made  it  necessary  for 
emotion  to  find  an  outlet  somehow.  The  case  in  this 
light  became  plain  enough,  and  family  readjustmenrs 
speedily  ensued  after  exploration  of  the  real  causes  of 
this  boy's  months  of  misconduct. 

Unfortunately,    James'    father   felt   himself    unable 


CONCERNING   PARENTAGE   ETC.       225 

to  meet  by  open  declaration  in  the  family  circle  the 
immoral  conditions  which  the  boy  believed  to  exist, 
although  he  did  readjust  the  family  situation  so  that 
further  immorality  would  be  impossible.  This  con- 
servative procedure  led  to  the  strongest  feelings  of 
scorn  on  the  part  of  his  son.  It  was  clear  from  what 
we  heard  that  James  sometimes  vented  his  feelings 
in  glances  of  derision  and  disgust  while  at  home.  Not 
only  did  the  father  fail  to  declare  himself  openly,  but 
as  time  went  on,  he  rather  doubted  the  truth  of  what 
the  boy  had  said,  especially  as  James  himself  did  not 
behave  any  better.  Good  positions  were  found  for 
the  boy,  but  he  failed  to  keep  them  and  became  more 
self-assertive  and  more  curiously  dogmatic  than  ever. 
He  acted  without  regard  for  his  own  welfare  and, 
finally,  after  many  things  were  done  for  him,  the  boy 
had  to  be  sent  to  an  institution  for  delinquents. 

Note  to  Case  21,  page  215 :  We  have  heard  remarkable  news  of  this 
case  after  the  final  proof  of  this  book  had  been  corrected.  The  boy  has 
committed  mm-dcr.  He  escaped  from  the  industrial  school  after  a  short 
time,  wandered  about  in  other  states,  then  was  held  and  did  well  for  several 
months  in  a  reformatory  for  boys.  He  grew  rapidly  at  this  time  and  seemed 
quite  normal.  Returned  home,  he  worked  and  seemed  happy  except  for 
outbursts  of  feeling,  as,  for  instance,  when  a  watch  he  purchased  was  criti- 
cized as  being  too  expensive,  he  instantly  threw  it  on  the  floor  and  broke 
it.  His  foster  father  tells  us  that  now  and  in  earlier  years  the  boy  occa- 
sionally approached  the  subject  of  his  own  parentage,  but  was  always  put 
off  without  direct  answer:  "He  is  only  fourteen,  he's  too  young  to  be 
worrying  about  such  things."  This  statement  was  made  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  long  before  we  had  counseled  frankness  in  the  matter. 

After  a  few  months  and  in  midwinter  he  left  home  once  more.  Next  he 
was  heard  of  in  a  western  city.  One  bitter  night  he  entered  a  watchman's 
shanty  and  when  the  man  returned  hit  him  on  the  head  with  an  iron  imple- 
ment and  robbed  him.  Being  speedily  caught,  he  readily  confessed  to  this 
and  said  that  he  was  cold  and  hungry  and  needed  money ;  this  was  how  he 
became  a  murderer  at  fourteen  years  of  age. 


CHAPTER  XIII 
CONFLICTS  IN  ABNORMAL  MENTAL  TYPES 

With  all  the  analyses  that  medicopsychologists 
have  offered  us  of  cases  of  mental  abnormality,  there 
has  been  little  suggestion  of  the  specific  relation  of 
mental  conflict  to  misconduct  in  these  cases,  even 
when  the  misconduct  has  been  a  large  part  of  the  pic- 
ture. The  problem  here  is  not  to  present  the  study 
of  any  psychoneurosis,  as  such,  but  rather  to  show 
the  causation  of  special  types  of  misbehavior  when 
they  occur  in  these  cases  of  mental  disorder,  as  the 
result  of  mental  conflict.  Mental  conflicts  evidently 
may  be  occasionally  active  in  producing  misconduct 
in  the  mentally  abnormal,  as  well  as  in  the  normal. 
The  hysteric  may  or  may  not  be  involved  in  miscon- 
duct, and  when  involved,  the  misconduct  may  or  may 
not  be  due  to  the  same  cause  as  the  disease,  e.g., 
mental  conflict. 

Three  histories  are  reviewed  in  this  chapter  (Case 
5  also  illustrates  the  subject)  to  give  some  hint  of  how 
mental  mechanisms  of  conflict  may  be  active  in  pro- 
ducing delinquency  in  a  variety  of  instances  where 
mentality  is  not  normal.  I  have  selected  mental 
troubles  of  the  less  profound  types ;  a  psychoneurosis, 
hysteria;  feeble-mindedness  of  the  moron  grade;  an 
example  of  a  mild,  ill-defined  psychosis  —  and  Case  5 
presents  mental  disturbance  correlated  with  chorea. 

226 


IN  ABNORMAL  MENTAL  TYPES       227 

Case  27.  This  case  presents  a  type  of  neurosis 
which  neurologists  know  full  well.  Added,  however, 
to  the  functional  nervous  disorder,  hysteria,  there 
was  much  troublesome  misconduct  on  the  girl's  part. 
The  main  interest  lies  in  the  fact  that  by  persistent 
social  work,  based  upon  professional  analysis  and 
diagnosis  of  her  mental  conflict,  what  is  evidently  a 
thorough  cure  has  been  effected. 

Celia  B.  we  saw  first  when  she  was  seventeen  years 
of  age.  From  several  sources  there  came  reports  of 
much  misconduct  extending  over  at  least  two  years. 
Her  delinquencies  ran  as  follows  :  Although  her  fam- 
ily was  exceedingly  poor,  she  had  been  quite  unwilling 
to  work  at  suitable  positions  which  had  been  found 
for  her.  On  the  other  hand,  she  had  engaged  in  beg- 
ging on  the  streets  or  from  house  to  house,  and  she 
had  concocted  several  letters  of  misrepresentation 
which  netted  fair  returns.  When  tried  at  various 
places  of  employment,  she  had  showed  herself  ex- 
tremely erratic  and  had  always  quickly  given  up  the 
work.  At  one  time  she  was  reported  for  being  out 
late  on  the  streets  at  night  and  exhibiting  much  ill 
temper  at  home.  At  that  period  she  was  very  untruth- 
ful and  untrustworthy  with  money  given  to  aid  the 
family.  Just  before  we  saw  her,  the  delinquencies 
had  culminated  in  a  series  of  thefts ;  a  number  of 
sums  of  money  were  taken  by  her  from  a  building 
to  which  she  had  access ;  and  she  had  also  purloined 
some  jewelry.  Then  she  disappeared  altogether  from 
home  for  a  few  days  and  refused  to  state  where  she 
had  been.  Some  of  the  money  was  found  curiously 
hidden  in  several  places. 

In   the   mid-period   of  her   delinquency,   Celia   had 


228  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

undergone  a  spectacular  conversion.  She  had  at- 
tended church  for  years  with  considerable  regularity, 
and  it  was  well  recognized  that  she  thoroughly  enjoyed 
religious  excitement. 

At  our  first  examination  certain  typical  conditions 
were  found  :  Celia  was  an  under-nourished  girl  of  poor 
color ;  weight  one  hundred  and  two  pounds.  No  sensory 
defects.  Physiognomy  characteristic ;  sharp,  weak  type 
of  features ;  eyes  watery  and  weak  looking,  unpleasant 
expression  about  her  small  mouth.  Laughs  occa- 
sionally in  a  rather  foolish  fashion  and  often  hesitates 
in  answering  a  question,  as  if  she  had  not  heard  it  at 
first.  Deep  reflexes  normal.  Sensation  of  pain  dis- 
tinctly diminished.  Complaint  of  numbness  in  her 
fingers.  No  tremors ;  strength  rather  good ;  co- 
ordination normal.  Fairly  well-marked  dermograph- 
ism on  upper  chest  and  shoulders.  Slouchy  carriage. 
Diminished  palatal  reflex.  Skin  muddy.  Complaint 
of  headaches  and  "it  hurts  when  the  hair  is  combed." 
No  contraction  of  field  of  vision  by  rough  test.  Does 
not  bite  finger  nails. 

Mental  tests  showed  this  girl  to  have  good  intelli- 
gence. She  did  well  on  a  wide  range  of  tests,  with 
one  exception,  —  the  tapping  test  for  psychomotor 
control  was  an  unusually  poor  performance.  How- 
ever, we  had  reason  later  to  learn  that  she  could  be 
very  deft  with  her  fingers ;  she  made  exquisite  em- 
broidery. Much  more  important  were  the  facts  we 
found  concerning  her  mental  attitude.  She  showed 
no  sorrow  at  her  misconduct;  indeed,  she  appeared 
indignant  at  the  world  for  interfering  with  her  life. 
There  was  much  complaint  about  her  physical  troubles, 
very  little  of  which  was  justified.  At  one  time  we 
knew  her  not  to  eat  anything  for  two  days.     When 


IN  ABNORMAL  MENTAL  TYPES       229 

interviewed  by  various  people  who  wished  to  help 
her,  there  was  much  hysterical  giggling  or  excitement 
with  crying;  she  often  stated  that  she  wished  she 
"were  dead",  that  she  "hated  herself."  Altogether, 
she  showed  so  much  peculiarity  that  one  had  to  regard 
her  as  almost  a  border-line  mental  case ;  the  diagnosis 
of  hysteria  seemed  from  both  physical  and  mental 
findings  thoroughly  justified. 

Celia  was  the  eldest  of  several  children  who  lived 
under  atrociously  bad  home  conditions.  The  father 
had  been  dead  for  several  years ;  he  had  been  an  arti- 
san and  probably  more  than  slightly  addicted  to 
alcohol.  The  mother  had  been  mentally  disturbed 
for  years,  but  never  so  badly  that  it  seemed  impera- 
tive that  she  be  sent  to  a  hospital  for  the  insane. 
The  diagnosis  of  insanity  in  her  case  had  been  made 
by  some  physicians;  a  competent  psychiatrist  had 
stated  that  she  presented  "a  terrifically  bad  case  of 
hysteria."  We  have  no  further  trustworthy  infor- 
mation about  heredity.  At  least  one  of  the  other 
children  had  convulsions  in  infancy.  They  appeared 
bright  enough  in  their  school  work,  but  showed  several 
signs  of  instability,  perhaps  largely  because  of  their 
extremely  defective  home  discipline.  The  family  had 
been  the  despair  of  numerous  agencies  which  had  tried 
to  help  them.  The  home  was  reported  as  dirty  and 
disorganized,  and  it  seemed  impossible  to  better  it 
because  of  the  extremely  erratic  behavior  of  the 
mother. 

Much  faithful  professional  and  social  work  has 
been  done  in  the  case  of  Celia.  Doctor  Clara  Schmitt 
studied  her  with  me.  After  several  interviews,  it 
was  found  possible  to  get  at  the  real  trouble  which 
induced  Celia's  general  behavior  and  mental  attitude. 


230  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

A  very  short  summary  of  our  long  studies  I  will  give 
as  follows : 

After  a  short  period  of  intense  depression,  Celia 
freely  stated  that  she  had  much  on  her  mind.  It  was 
nothing  that  she  had  been  accused  of,  nothing  that 
she  was  detained  for ;  those  things  seemed  to  her 
slight  delinquencies,  or  not  delinquencies  at  all.  Prior 
to  her  revelation  of  the  full  nature  of  her  difficulties, 
it  was  interesting  to  us  to  note  that  she  complained 
bitterly  about  having  to  associate  during  detention 
with  girls  who  were  "not  nice",  who  said  "bad  words." 
"I  don't  know  of  anything  that  is  more  horrible;  they 
are  certainly  in  a  sad  way." 

She  endeavored  to  make  it  clear  to  us  that  their 
outspoken  expressions  of  their  sex  knowledge  were 
utterly  repugnant  to  her.  This  seemed  all  the  more 
curious,  because  later  we  came  to  know  that  Celia 
had  developed,  perhaps  involuntarily,  some  extreme 
and  obsessive  forms  of  mental  imagery  about  sex  life. 
She  had  been  a  chronic  masturbator  since  she  was 
four  years  old,  and  her  fantasies  concerning  sex  affairs 
had  grown  so  that  they  were  a  part  of  her  most  vivid 
dream  life  and  were  suggested,  to  her  great  discomfort, 
during  the  daytime  by  the  presence  of  men  and  boys. 
When  recounting  her  dreams  and  half-visions  con- 
cerning these  things,  Celia  gave  much  vent  to  her 
feeling  about  the  horribleness  of  it  all.  She  would  go 
just  so  far  and  then  begin  to  sob  and  wring  her  hands. 
It  made  her  "hate  herself",  she  said;  it  made  her 
want  to  tear  away  the  sex  portion  of  her  body.  That 
there  was  any  experience  in  which  the  idea  of  sex 
affairs  and  of  stealing  had  originally  entered  Celia's 
mind  at  anything  like  the  same  time,  we  could  not 
discover,  —  there  had  been  so  many  untoward  event'" 


IN  ABNORMAL   MENTAL  TYPES       231 

in  her  life  that  there  was  Httle  chance  of  getting  any 
particular  experience  definitely  corroborated. 

One  point  stood  out  very  clearly  in  Celia's  case; 
her  whole  misbehavior  rested  upon  a  foundation  that 
had  not  been  heretofore  suspected.  The  girl  was 
most  unhappy  and  very  willing,  after  a  time,  to  try 
to  help  herself.  She  confided  to  two  good  women  the 
extensive  and  unpleasant  details  of  her  dreams  and 
the  nature  of  her  waking  obsessive  imageries  which 
amounted  almost  to  hallucinations.  This  required 
considerable  time  and  effort  for,  as  stated  above,  when 
first  seen  she  set  up  a  defensory  reaction  of  insisting 
that  she  could  not  even  mention  the  vulgar  words 
which  other  girls  had  used  in  her  presence. 

After  this  exploratory  proceeding,  the  reports  from 
this  girl  straightway  began  to  improve,  and  her  dreams 
and  troublesome  thoughts  rapidly  ceased,  according 
to  her  own  account.  We  may  be  convinced  that  this 
is  true,  for  she  showed  no  more  times  of  heavy  depres- 
sion. Years  have  passed,  and  she  has  never  been 
known  to  steal  another  thing. 

Not  long  after  our  exploration  of  her  case,  Celia 
began  to  work  hard  for  more  education ;  she  took  a 
commercial  course  at  night  school  and  did  well  at  it. 
She  has  now  long  held  a  good  position,  having  charge 
of  others  in  a  manufacturing  establishment.  The 
change  in  her  has  not  at  all  been  brought  about  by 
lessening  economic  pressure,  for  less  aid  has  been 
given  the  family  than  formerly.  The  mother  herself 
is  no  better,  and  the  children  are  still  troublesome, 
but  Celia's  personal  relief,  through  exploration  of  her 
mental  life,  has  been  so  great  that  she  has  withstood 
all  this  and  become,  in  truth,  the  valiant  little  mother 
and  the  steady  wage  earner  of  the  family.     Observers 


232  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

have  been  deeply  impressed  by  the  change  that  has 
come  over  her. 

Case  28.  The  question  has  arisen  with  us  concern- 
ing the  possibiHty  of  mental  conflicts  developing  in 
those  who  are  feeble-minded.  We  are  convinced 
from  several  experiences  that  this  is  possible,  and 
sometimes  with  disastrous  effects  upon  conduct.  No 
doubt  the  conflicts  are  simple  in  nature,  correspond- 
ing to  the  general  quality  of  the  mental  life,  but  still 
they  must  be  understood  and  fairly  met  if  there  is  to 
be  improvement  in  conduct.  A  short  summary  of 
a  case  bearing  on  this  point  will  serve  to  show  some- 
thing of  what  may  occasionally  be  found : 

John  N.  was  a  boy  of  nearly  fifteen  when  we  first 
saw  him.  He  had  been  stealing  for  two  or  three  years 
and  was  consistently  a  thief  upon  almost  any  oppor- 
tunity. In  spite  of  being  sent  to  an  institution  for 
the  feeble-minded  a  couple  of  times,  his  career  had  not 
been  checked.  He  had  run  away  from  the  institution 
when  he  felt  so  inclined  and  finally,  convicted  of  the 
charge  of  burglary,  he  is  now,  at  nineteen,  serving  a 
long  sentence  in  a  reformatory. 

On  the  physical  side  we  found  nothing  of  great  sig- 
nificance. He  had  enlarged  tonsils,  and  although 
there  was  no  obstruction  of  the  nose,  he  was  by  habit 
a  mouth  breather.  There  was  no  sensory  defect. 
His  features  were  mainly  characterized  by  a  good 
forehead,  well-shaped  head,  and  a  decidedly  weak 
chin. 

We  have  examined  the  boy  mentally  on  several 
different  occasions  and  given  him  many  tests.  He  is 
undoubtedly  feeble-minded,  according  to  the  ordinary 
definition.     On  the  Binet  scale,  1911  series,  at  fifteen 


IN  ABNORMAL  MENTAL  TYPES       233 

and  one-half  years  of  age,  he  passed  the  nine-year 
tests,  with  four  higher  ones  to  his  credit.  This  would 
not  grade  him  more  than  ten  years  at  the  most.  On 
other  tests  he  did  relatively  as  poorly,  but  he  had 
learned  to  write  a  good  hand.  We  were  particularly 
interested  to  note  that,  in  spite  of  his  low  grading,  he 
had  considerable  apperception  of  the  causes  of  his 
delinquencies.  He  seemed  to  feel  his  own  weakness 
of  will ;  when  asked  to  express  himself  concerning 
what  he  thought  was  back  of  his  misconduct,  we  found 
that  he  had  a  comparatively  good  insight  into  the 
initiatory  forces  of  his  temptations. 

About  the  family  and  developmental  history  we  are 
none  too  sure,  and  yet  the  very  unreliability  of  the 
account  given  by  the  mother  shows  definitely  that 
she  too  is  at  least  somewhat  subnormal.  It  seems  that 
this  boy  was  always  regarded  as  a  dunce,  while  it  is 
certain  that  several  of  the  other  children  of  the  large 
family  have  done  well.  These  people  were  immi- 
grants, and  there  was  little  chance  to  know  more 
definitely  about  any  hereditary  factors  for  John's 
defective  mentality. 

Our  interest  is  particularly  in  John's  own  self- 
analysis  of  his  mental  life.  We  know  that  the  boy 
has  often  proved  himself  a  liar  about  the  details  of  his 
delinquencies,  more  than  most  boys  who  so  often  fal- 
sify in  self-defense,  but  he  could  hardly  have  invented 
a  story  about  mental  conflicts  and  repressions.  Let 
me  give  his  account  in  his  own  words  —  he  spoke 
coherently  enough : 

"Began  stealing.'^  That  was  when  I  was  about 
twelve  years  old.  We  lived  over  on  W.  Street.  There 
was  a  boy  by  the  name  of  S.  He  was  the  first  that 
ever  told  me,  he  was  a  big  fellow.     He  was  sent  after 


234  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

that  to  the  band  house.  I  knew  him  about  two 
years.  He  held  up  a  lady  with  a  revolver;  he  took 
her  watch  and  chain.  It  was  him  that  used  to  tell 
me  to  take  things  and  sell  them.  I  used  to  take  iron 
and  stuff  out  of  wagons,  and  whips ;  I  would  sell  them. 
He  said  if  I  see  a  man  on  a  wagon  without  a  whip,  I 
should  run  up  and  sell  him  one.  He  saw  me  and 
thought  I  was  a  good  looking  kid  to  go  stealing  with 
him.  He  made  friends  with  me  and  made  me  go 
around  stealing  with  him.  My  folks  knew  him,  but 
didn't  know  he  was  stealing.  He  was  afraid  to  go  in 
stores  and  steal.  He  cheats  too,  he  takes  pennies 
and  polishes  them  up ;  he  has  some  kind  of  white 
polish.  Then  he  goes  into  a  store  where  there  is  a 
poor  man  making  a  living  and  says  'Give  me  nine 
cents  in  change.'  I  used  to  sell  the  stuff  in  junk 
shops  —  would  get  about  a  dime  or  a  nickel.  I  had 
the  skates  that  time,  but  he  took  them  away  from  me 
because  he  wanted  them  for  himself.  He  is  the  only 
kid  I  went  stealing  with." 

"Then  afterwards  I  was  thinking  of  the  time  about 
what  he  said  about  stealing,  and  so  I  went  through 
alleys  stealing  and  selling  iron,  lead  pipe,  like  that. 
That  kid  S.,  he  took  little  girls,  when  he  sees  them  on 
the  street,  at  ten  or  eleven  at  night,  in  the  alleys,  and 
he  does  things  in  front  of  girls.  Well,  he  was  going 
to  touch  me  once,  but  I  wouldn't  let  him.  He  goes  to 
teach  me,  but  I  push  him  away.  Every  kid  around 
there  is  sore  at  him  for  doing  things  to  girls.  My 
brother  was  sore  at  him  and  would  not  speak  to  him.  I 
wouldn't  do  these  things  he  was  talking  about ;  I  would 
do  something  else  instead  of  doing  such  a  thing." 

(The  reader  should  be  informed  that  the  above 
naive  account  was  not  given  in  response  to  any  lead- 


IN  ABNORMAL  MENTAL  TYPES       235 

ing  questions ;  John  was  merely  told  to  go  ahead  with 
his  story,  and  occasionally  a  general  interrogation  was 
made  by  way  of  stimulation.) 

"I  stay  around  and  help  my  mother  and  read  a 
book  by  the  stove  and  go  to  bed  and  forget  about  these 
things,  and  then  the  next  day  I  do  it  again.  When 
I  read,  I  forget  about  these  things,  and  then  when  I 
am  through  reading,  I  do  think  of  stealing.  There 
was  a  friend  of  mine,  Simon,  he  steals ;  he  snatched 
teacher's  pocketbook.  He  was  sent  away.  Then  he 
made  up  his  mind  he  would  not  steal  again,  and  now 
he  is  a  good  kid  and  is  working." 

"I  think  it  was  about  three  years  when  that  kid  S. 
was  sent  away.  I  think  about  what  he  told  me  about 
stealing.  That  stuff  about  girls,  that  don't  come  up 
in  my  head.  He  told  me  all  what  he  does  to  girls, 
and  I  says  I  don't  want  to  hear  no  more  about  it. 
Sure,  I  used  to  think  about  it  at  first ;  I  used  to  think 
about  girls  and  do  those  things,  but  now  I  forgot  all 
about  girls." 

It  is  the  naivete  of  this  recital  which  argues  its 
vah'dity.  I  need  not  go  on  with  the  other  points  that 
came  out  concerning  John's  repeated  stealing  and  his 
confession  of  occasional  masturbation.  It  was  evi- 
dent from  his  appearance  and  good  physical  condition 
that  he  has  never  been  excessively  engaged  in  this 
habit.  The  feature  in  this  case  that  I  would  bring 
out  most  strongly  is  that  this  boy,  while  not  having 
mentality  enough  to  analyze  clearly  the  nature  of  his 
mental  processes,  gave  us  unmistakable  evidences  of 
the  activity  of  mental  conflict  and  repressions.  He 
originally  had  experiences  of  sex  affairs  associated  with 
stealing.  He  repressed  part  of  the  complex,  but  could 
not  successfully  fight  against  the  impulse  to  steal. 


236  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

John  gradually  developed  some  little  cunning  in  the 
attempt  to  emulate,  probably,  the  type  of  stealing 
done  by  his  more  clever  comrades,  but  he  never  suc- 
ceeded in  the  ordinary  professional  way,  and  he  was 
repeatedly  arrested  during  the  times  when  he  was  not 
in  the  school  for  the  feeble-minded.  When  we  origi- 
nally saw  him,  he  had  already  engaged  in  one  or  two 
amateur  burglaries,  and  these  became  more  serious  as 
time  went  on.  In  his  neighborhood  he  was  regarded 
as  a  nuisance.  The  habit  of  delinquency  grew  stead- 
ily upon  him,  unquestionably  from  the  beginnings 
which  he  so  clearly  revealed  to  us. 

Case  29.  The  girl  whose  case  is  next  summarized 
was  considered  for  two  or  three  years  to  be  perhaps 
mentally  abnormal.  The  main  problem  with  her  was 
delinquency ;  she  was  at  one  time  thought  to  be 
insane,  and  at  another  time  feeble-minded,  and  finally 
it  was  decided  that  she  would  best  be  treated  by  disci- 
plinary methods.  The  largest  factor  in  this  case,  we 
found,  was  that  of  mental  conflict. 

Verna  L.  we  first  studied  when  she  was  about  fif- 
teen. For  three  years  there  had  been  great  complaint 
about  her  bad  behavior ;  all  who  knew  the  girl  insisted 
that  her  misconduct  was  extreme.  She  had  first 
been  reported  to  a  social  agency,  which,  hearing  of  her 
peculiar  actions,  had  turned  her  over  to  a  dispensary 
clinic,  where  she  was  seen  by  an  eminent  neurologist 
who  at  first  registered  the  opinion  that  she  might  be 
suffering  from  a  psychosis,  but  after  further  observa- 
tion stated  that  she  was  a  case  for  discipline.  She 
was  later  again  studied  by  psychiatrists  in  a  hospital, 
as  well  as  by  us. 

Verna  had  given  way  to  several  forms  of  misbehavior. 


IN  ABNORMAL  MENTAL  TYPES       237 

At  home  she  was  extremely  disobedient  and  violent.  At 
times  she  cried  and  screamed  so  that  the  neighbors 
complained ;  she  was  mean  to  the  children  and  par- 
ticularly vindictive  towards  her  mother.  As  a  visitor 
put  it,  Verna  frequently  indulged  in  "free  fights"  at 
home.  Dishes  were  broken  by  her ;  she  threw  kin- 
dling wood  at  her  mother ;  she  locked  both  parents  out 
of  their  rooms  at  times ;  she  once  tried  to  pour  boiling 
water  on  her  mother  and  spat  in  her  coffee  cup ;  at 
one  time  the  mother  was  found  black  and  blue  from 
having  been  struck  by  Verna.  She  bothered  her 
family  greatly ;  one  curious  way  of  doing  it  was  by 
persisting  in  unnecessary  scrubbing.  Her  threats 
to  kill  the  family  perhaps  were  of  no  great  signifi- 
cance. On  several  occasions  Verna  engaged  in  thiev- 
ing from  shops  down-town.  After  that  she  stole  on 
a  number  of  occasions.  She  took  a  ring  from  her 
mother,  money  from  the  pocketbook  of  a  working 
woman,  jewelry  from  some  distant  relatives,  and  a 
fvatch  from  a  cousin,  who  will  be  mentioned  later. 
Her  family  considered  it  a  serious  delinquency  when 
she  ran  out  from  the  bathroom  totally  naked  before 
some  company  assembled  in  the  house. 

Verna  was  well  developed  and  well  nourished.  Pro- 
fessional observation  showed  that  at  twelve  years  of 
age  she  was  prematurely  developed  in  sex  character- 
istics ;  she  had  already  menstruated.  Vision  was 
decidedly  defective,  yet  she  only  wore  her  glasses  at 
times.  There  was  no  complaint  of  headaches  or  signs 
of  nervous  disease,  unless  excessive  biting  of  the 
finger  nails  might  be  so  regarded.  She  dressed  neatly 
and  was  rather  an  attractive  girl  as  we  saw  her.  She 
had  been  suffering  from  enuresis  for  a  year  or  more 
previously,  but  earlier  in  life  there  had  been  no  traces 


^38  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

of  this  disorder.  In  none  of  the  hospital  reports  do 
we  note  any  physical  findings  of  significance  except  the 
above. 

In  discussing  the  mentality  of  Verna  I  need  not 
burden  the  reader  with  an  account  of  the  great  irregu- 
larities which  she  displayed  on  tests,  or  her  variabilities 
in  conduct  and  general  mental  reactions.  She  had 
attained  the  seventh  grade  and  her  record  was  fair  for 
scholarship  and  deportment  in  school.  As  a  result  of 
her  mental  tests,  we  concluded  that  she  could  not  be 
fairly  called  feeble-minded,  even  though  she  failed 
on  a  few  tests  which  normal  children  should  be  able 
to  do.  She  could  do  long  division  correctly  and  write 
a  fair  hand.  She  had  worked  for  two  or  three  months 
in  a  department  store,  and  there  had  been  raised  in 
position  and  salary. 

We  studied  her  after  she  had  been  already  observed 
three  times  in  a  certain  good  hospital  for  the  insane, 
with  the  result  that  they  considered  her  "somewhat 
defective,  but  not  insane",  and  after  the  opinion  had 
been  given  by  a  well-known  superintendent  of  an  insti- 
tution for  the  feeble-minded  that  she  was  not  a  fit 
subject  for  his  place.  We  were  unable  to  conclude 
that  she  was  anything  but  slightly  aberrational,  show- 
ing many  inhibitions  which  caused  her  to  do  poorly  at 
times.  This  immediate  diagnosis  from  general  obser- 
vation and  from  tests  later  appeared  to  be  of  less  con- 
sequence than  what  was  found  by  mental  analysis. 

About  her  developmental  conditions  we  learned 
from  a  moderately  intelligent  father  and  mother  — 
a  couple  that  were  willing  to  cooperate  in  every  way, 
but  who  could  not  go  beyond  their  own  intelligence 
in  treatment  of  the  girl.  We  heard  of  absolutely 
nothing    abnormal    about    her    early     development. 


IN   ABNORMAL  MENTAL  TYPES       239 

Verna  was  a  happy,  healthy  child  and  was  formerly 
very  fond  of  school.  She  never  had  any  serious  ill- 
nesses. Certainly  before  she  was  ten  years  old  the 
mother  noticed  that  at  times  Verna  was  a  very 
"cranky"  child,  but  her  first  real  outbreaks  occurred 
when  she  was  twelve;  her  enuresis  also  began  then. 
On  several  occasions  she  had  some  sort  of  shivering 
spells  in  the  daytime,  with  enuresis.  These  were  the 
only  attacks  that  were  ever  noted.  Inquiry  concern- 
ing family  antecedents  brought  out  only  negative 
facts  ;  nothing  in  heredity  seemed  to  bear  upon  Verna's 
case. 

No  little  troul)le  was  experienced  in  getting  at  the 
original  causes  in  this  case.  A  good  deal  of  resist- 
ance, which  itself  was  easily  enough  perceived,  had  to 
be  broken  down.  Our  very  first  clue  to  the  fact  that 
there  was  any  conflict  in  the  background  was  Verna's 
repeated  expression  to  us  of  secret  hatred  for  a  certain 
girl  cousin,  who  was  two  or  three  years  older.  This 
was  the  one  from  whom  Verna  had  stolen  a  watch  not 
long  since.  "I  didn't  think  her  worth  while  to  have 
a  watch."  Later  Verna  told  us  that  for  years  thoughts 
of  her  cousin  had  been  continually  recurring  to  her, 
by  night  and  by  day.  The  gist  of  the  results  of  our 
long  efforts  with  Verna  may  be  given  as  follows : 

This  cousin  —  who  was  regarded  as  a  thoroughly 
nice  girl  by  the  family  —  had  initiated  Verna,  when 
she  was  six  and  one-half  years  old,  into  her  first  sex 
experience.  For  a  time  they  practiced  mutual  mas- 
turbation. Verna  grew  curious  about  sex  affairs  in 
general,  and  upon  questioning  her  mother  was  in- 
variably put  off  with  the  statement  that  she  would 
know  about  those  things  when  she  grew  older.  After 
some  years,  when  the  two  girls  had  been  long  separated, 


240  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

Verna  was  much  distressed  by  recurring  thoughts  about 
her  cousin.  It  seemed  to  her  as  if  she  wanted  the 
cousin  near  her,  and  yet  she  hated  her.  The  first 
person  whom  Verna  ever  knew  to  take  things  that  did 
not  belong  to  her  was  this  cousin.  They  were  down- 
town in  department  stores  a  couple  of  times,  and 
the  cousin  took  some  trinkets  and  urged  Verna  to  do 
likewise. 

When  we  tried  to  work  back  from  the  clue  given 
us  by  Verna's  expression  of  complete  hatred  for  this 
cousin,  we  were  met  by  the  statement  that  Verna  had 
something  she  would  like  to  tell  us.  It  took  her  long 
to  make  up  her  mind  to  do  so,  but  when  she  did,  the 
above  story  came  out  with  great  detail  and  also  an 
account  of  her  own  solitary  masturbation.  The  girl, 
then,  had  a  mental  life  that  her  intimates  had  not 
even  dreamed  of ;  she  was  continually  repressing  a  lot 
of  knowledge  with  a  lot  of  sex  feeling,  but  sometimes 
gave  way  in  the  form  of  bad  sex  habits,  and,  especially, 
to  the  violent  behavior  at  home.  She  informed  us, 
too,  that  these  "attacks"  that  her  parents  had  de- 
scribed to  us  were  the  outcome  of  intense  sex  feeling 
coming  on  during  the  daytime ;  the  shivering  and  the 
enuresis  were  all  part  of  it.  Very  intense  was  Verna's 
feeling  of  hatred  towards  the  cousin.  "I  think  she 
was  trying  to  ruin  me.  .  .  .  Hate  her?  I  could 
kill  her.  I  feel  inside  me  as  if  all  the  trouble  that 
comes  to  me  leads  to  her.  She  was  trying  to  put  me 
in  a  wrong  way.  If  she  does  feel  that  way  is  no  rea- 
son why  she  should  go  and  tell  me  about  it.  She  said 
she  wasn't  going  to  hurt  me,  she  was  just  going  to 
have  some  fun.  She  said,  'Come  on,  let's  have  some 
fun.'  She  never  said  anything  about  boys.  Some- 
times I  wish  I  could  die.  .  .  .     Sometimes  I  feel  as 


IN  ABNORMAL  MENTAL  TYPES       211 

if  I  should  like  to  have  her  near  me.  Sometimes  I 
think  she  is  near  me  all  the  time.  .  .  .  Something  in 
mvself  tells  me  it's  bad." 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  all  of  the  above  came  out 
after  Verna  had  made  a  great  point  of  her  own  inno- 
cence to  several  of  the  people  who  had  tried  to  help 
her  previously,  and  also  to  us  at  first.  This  same  trait 
was  noted  later  at  the  institution  for  delinquents, 
where  she  was  sent.  One  teacher  writes  that  she 
believes  her  a  constant  masturbator,  but  the  girl  has 
a  great  deal  of  pride  and  is  most  anxious  to  hide  from 
others  that  she  has  such  desires. 

This  case  was  found  most  troublesome  to  handle; 
there  was  no  one  competent  to  do  so  in  her  own  fam- 
ily. The  mother  was  already  a  very  sickly  and  broken- 
down  woman,  largely  through  worry  about  Verna; 
she  died  not  long  afterwards.  Our  exploration  of  this 
case  was  not  followed  by  any  highly  individualized 
treatment,  such  as  the  case  demanded.  A  further 
diagnosis  of  "not  insane"  was  made  by  other  ob- 
servers, and  the  girl  was  sent,  as  a  routine  measure,  to 
a  school  for  delinquents.  There  she  was  regarded  by 
some  as  quite  dull  mentally  and  a  great  falsifier,  while 
others  found  her  truthful  and  a  faithful  worker ;  a 
diversity  of  opinion  was  forthcoming,  as  always.  How- 
ever, her  conduct  improved,  and  a  good  prognosis 
was  given.  No  stealing  was  indulged  in  there.  After 
about  eighteen  months  in  the  institution  Verna  re- 
turned home,  and  again  there  was  much  friction.  A 
little  tendency  towards  dishonesty  was  observed,  but 
nothing  very  serious. 

In  the  last  two  j'^ears  Verna  has  sometimes  been  at 
home  taking  care  of  the  younger  children,  and  some- 
times  has   been   working   in   other   households.     The 


242  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

reports  about  her  in  other  places  are  almost  uniformly 
good.  She  is  particularly  industrious  and  fond  of 
working  hard  at  simple  types  of  work.  Whenever  at 
home,  she  has  been  extremely  abusive  to  the  other 
children  and  very  difficult  to  get  along  with.  There 
seems  to  be  little  doubt  that  at  times  she  indulges  in 
her  old  bad  habits,  and  the  girl  has  never  had,  at  least 
in  her  own  home,  the  type  of  companionship  which 
would  lead  her  to  recover  herself.  There  have  been 
no  signs  of  deterioration  or  further  development  of  a 
psychosis ;  indeed,  on  the  whole,  there  has  been  con- 
siderable improvement,  even  though  the  case  has 
never  been  treated  as  we  had  wished. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

CONFLICTS  RESULTING  IN  STEALING 

Coming  now  to  the  different  types  of  delinquency 
which  may  be,  respectively,  the  definite  expressions  of 
reactions  to  elements  in  mental  complexes,  examples 
of  stealing  are  first  offered.  (Many  other  cases  of 
this  common  offense  will  be  found  in  this  volume.) 
It  is  most  significant  for  the  principles  of  mental  analy- 
sis that  in  many  of  these  cases  a  specific  form  of  offense 
affords  outlet  for  the  conflict.  Of  course  there  may 
be  other  delinquencies,  but  these  are  generally  sub- 
sidiary to  the  one  significant  type  of  misconduct. 
As  noted  in  the  chapter  on  Applications,  working 
back  from  the  special  offense  to  its  specific  causation 
is  what  opens  the  door  to  understanding  of  the  part 
that  the  mental  mechanisms  of  conflict  play  in  the 
given  case  and  in  misconduct  in  general. 

Case  30.  This  case  shows  much  stealing  by  a  young 
boy  upon  a  basis  of  mental  conflict,  the  account  of 
which  was  very  directly  and  well  expressed. 

An  agitated  father  and  mother  came  to  tell  us  about 
their  only  child,  Manny  J.,  a  boy  of  ten,  who  had  been 
recently  found  by  the  police  after  having  been  away 
from  home  several  days.  This  boy  had  begun  steal- 
ing about  a  year  previously  and  soon  afterwards  had 

243 


244  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

run  away  from  home  for  the  first  time;  this  last  de- 
linquency he  had  since  committed,  after  stealing,  on 
numerous  occasions. 

The  parents  were  foreigners  who  had  been  in  this 
country  since  their  boy  was  three  years  old.  They 
had  been  industrious  and  fairly  prosperous  and  main- 
tained a  good  home.  (We  heard  from  outsiders  that 
the  family  conditions  were  unusually  good.)  The 
developmental  history  of  the  child  was  entirely  normal 
except  for  scarlet  fever  and  an  ear  infection  at  six  years, 
with  a  mastoid  operation  following  it.  Heredity  was 
said  to  be  negative,  and  one  had  little  doubt  that 
the  sensible  parents  reported  the  truth.  They  had 
learned  to  speak  very  little  English,  but  had  placed 
their  boy  in  a  public  school  from  whence  came  thor- 
oughly good  accounts  of  his  deportment  and  scholar- 
ship. The  sole  trouble  was  the  above  mentioned 
delinquencies. 

Manny  had  stolen  considerable  sums  of  money, 
both  from  his  father's  store  and  from  other  people. 
The  parents  had  tried  everything,  whipping  the  boy 
and  not  whipping  him,  and  the  lad  would  talk  most 
maturely  to  them  about  his  bad  conduct.  There  were 
certain  peculiarities  in  his  stealing ;  for  instance,  the 
father  had  repeatedly  thought  that  he  would  train 
the  boy  by  leaving  money  on  the  counter.  When 
this  was  done,  no  money  would  disappear,  but  at  about 
the  same  time  money  might  be  taken  by  him  out  of 
the  father's  pockets  or  from  the  clothes  of  other  people. 
This  last  time  he  had  broken  into  his  father's  strong 
box  and  taken  one  hundred  and  twenty  dollars  in 
cash  and  some  checks ;  the  latter  he  returned  by  mail 
after  he  had  run  away  from  home.  When  he  was 
discovered  by  the  police,  he  had  bought  himself  new 


CONFLICTS   RESULTING   IN   STEALING     245 

clothes.  He  had  never  stayed  away  from  home  longer 
than  a  few  days,  in  the  meantime  sleeping  about  any- 
where that  he  could.  The  parents  were  greatly  dis- 
tressed and  found  themselves  in  a  quandary,  because 
all  their  efforts  to  correct  the  boy  had  been  unavailing. 
They  maintained  that  he  was  a  very  bright,  normal, 
and  affectionate  boy,  and  good  in  every  other  par- 
ticular. 

At  the  very  first  interview  we  found  that  this  little 
boy  had  a  great  deal  on  his  mind.  He  freely  acknowl- 
edged his  delinquencies,  stating  that  when  away  from 
home  he  slept  "by  kids,  in  their  basement."  During 
the  course  of  his  conversation  he  said,  "Sometimes  I 
don't  know  what  I  am  doing,  I  get  so  bothered."  We 
successfully  attempted  to  establish  friendly  relations 
with  the  boy,  and  these  were  maintained  at  this  and 
at  all  succeeding  interviews.  *'I  think  about  what 
they  say,  and  then  I  get  all  bothered."  The  boy  at 
this  stared  off  into  the  distance,  and  tears  came  into 
his  eyes.  He  seemed  remarkably  puzzled  about  the 
whole  affair.  "I  learned  to  steal  from  boys.  They 
learned  little  kids  how  to  smoke.  I  learned  from  them, 
but  I  don't  smoke  much  now.  The  worst  is  the  bad 
things  they  say.  I  try  to  forget,  but  I  can't ;  it  comes 
up  in  my  mind  and  I  think  about  it.  They  talk  bad 
about  girls,  but  I  never  saw  them  if  they  did  it.  I  hear 
them,  and  then  I  get  it  in  my  head,  and  I  can't  leave 
go  of  it.  I  think  and  think,  and  then  I  forget  what 
I  want  to  do." 

It  would  take  many  pages  to  recount  even  a  small 
part  of  what  this  boy  told  us  about  his  life.  We  found 
him  a  very  bright  boy,  who  could  do  very  well  on  men- 
tal tests  —  a  nervous,  tense  little  fellow,  who  wanted 
to  go  home  and  try  all  over  again  to  do  better.     We 


246  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

found  there  was  too  much  drinking  of  tea  and  coffee 
on  his  part,  but  outside  of  that  there  were  no  bad  per- 
sonal habits ;  his  smoking  was  a  very  shght  affair. 

In  boyish  fashion,  he  always  wanted  to  deal  with 
more  recent  matters,  not  to  thoughtfully  consider 
beginnings,  but  in  the  course  of  a  few  days  the  begin- 
nings were  elicited,  and  we  found  we  could  largely 
corroborate  his  story  through  the  parents.  The  very 
first  money  he  had  taken  was  forty  cents  he  was  in- 
trusted with  to  deliver  to  another  person.  A  certain 
boy  was  with  him  who  was  a  lad  of  poor  reputation, 
according  to  the  parents,  but  Manny  could  not  remem- 
ber the  exact  details  of  that  particular  day.  Before 
that  he  had  in  his  head  the  idea  of  stealing,  because 
he  had  learned  about  it  when  they  lived  at  another 
place.  The  first  person  he  ever  saw  stealing  was  a 
boy  from  whom  he  heard  a  certain  word.  He  did  not 
ask  the  lad  what  the  word  meant,  but  he  began  say- 
ing it  himself  secretly. 

Over  and  over  again,  Manny  insisted  with  us  that 
these  were  the  things  that  made  him  steal,  namely, 
bad  words  and  ideas  about  girls.  Some  of  the  boys 
who  stole  little  things  told  him  bad  things  about  girls. 
"  I  heard  what  they  said,  and  then  I  would  want  to 
do  that  myself.  I  try  to  forget,  and  then  I  can't 
forget."  There  were  also  some  attempts  by  the  other 
boys  to  tamper  with  the  person  of  this  lad,  but  evi- 
dently nothing  much  was  done  to  him. 

When  Manny  was  asked  point-blank  to  explain 
his  own  stealing,  for  example,  in  this  last  instance, 
his  answer  was  very  direct.  "That  boy  got  to  telling 
me  all  sorts  of  stuff  about  girls  again  and  robbings, 
and  that  got  me  sore  because  of  the  kids  telling  me, 
and  I  went  and  took  the  keys  and  got  into  that  place 


CONFLICTS   RESULTING   IN   STEALING     247 

where  my  father  had  the  money."  Most  vehemently 
he  told  us,  *'I  get  sore  lots  of  times,  because  that 
bothers  me,  about  what  the  boys  tell  me  about  the 
girls.  I  took  the  money.  I  don't  know  for  what 
I  done  that  myself.  I  knew  where  it  was,  but  I  don't 
know  why  I  wanted  to  take  it."  After  taking  this 
money  and  leaving  home,  he  apparently  spent  much 
upon  these  boys  as  well  as  upon  himself.  It  was 
true,  evidently,  that  they  had  told  him  to  steal ;  they 
knew  that  he  had  taken  things  before,  but  he  threw 
little  blame  on  them  for  this,  only  for  telling  him  bad 
sex  affairs  and  getting  him  so  stirred  up  in  his  mind 
about  it.  One  boy  had  shown  him  some  bad  pictures, 
but  it  was  not  that  so  much  as  the  words  they  had 
said  which  renewed  in  his  mind  what  he  had  heard 
long  before  from  this  boy  who  was  the  first  one  whom 
he  had  ever  known  to  steal. 

We  felt  much  interest  in  noting  this  boy's  attitude 
toward  himself.  He  sat  with  a  perplexed  look  upon 
his  face  as  he  tried  to  think  out  his  own  career,  and  he 
seemed  to  be  genuinely  interested  in  his  own  mental 
processes  as  he  made  them  plain  to  himself  and  to  us. 
In  a  typical  boyish  way  he  would  say  certain  things, 
and  then  later,  "Oh,  no,  I  remember",  or,  "But  now 
I  think  of  that."  He  frequently  told  us  that  he  was 
"worried"  and  "bothered",  using  phraseology  unusual 
for  a  small  boy.  He  expressed  himself  at  times  as 
if  he  were  subject  to  some  sort  of  attacks  of  ideas 
coming  into  his  head,  just  as  an  older  person  might 
tell  about  a  mental  obsession.  He  was  at  all  times 
perfectly  confident  that  if  these  other  thoughts  would 
drop  away  from  him,  he  would  certainly  cease  stealing. 
Over  and  over  he  stated  that  this  was  what  led  him  to 
his  delinquencies. 


248  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

After  learning  from  his  father  about  the  pecuHar 
feature  of  Manny's  steaHng  from  pockets,  we  asked 
the  boy  to  think  back  to  any  early  experiences  with 
that  form  of  stealing  —  he  first  having  told  us  that 
no  boys  that  he  now  associated  with  stole  in  that  way. 
It  seems  that  just  about  the  time  that  he  was  first 
hearing  about  sex  affairs  —  this  could  be  closely 
placed  because  of  his  residence  on  a  certain  street 
at  that  time  —  he  saw  a  boy,  a  member  of  their  group, 
sneak  up  to  a  pile  of  workmen's  clothes  and  take  some 
coats  back  into  an  alley,  where  he  went  through  the 
pockets.  This  he  now  remembered  vividly,  although 
he  apparently  had  never  consciously  connected  the 
affair  with  his  present  troubles,  or  with  his  impulse 
which  made  him  apparently  go  out  of  his  way  to  steal 
in  more  difficult  fashion  when  he  might  have  taken 
things  nearer  at  hand. 

Of  course,  it  was  perfectly  clear  that  nothing  could 
be  done  for  this  boy  unless  his  obsessions  were  cor- 
rected. We  found  that  his  good  father  had  never 
known  a  thing  of  his  inner  turmoil  nor  uttered  a  word 
to  him  on  the  subject  of  sex  affairs.  We  at  once  took 
up  the  whole  matter  with  his  parents,  who,  although 
they  said  they  were  at  their  wits'  end  in  the  matter, 
were  willing  to  make  a  new  start. 

(Six  months  later  we  heard  that  a  marvelous  change 
had  followed  our  analysis  of  this  case.  The  previously 
complaining  parents  reported  to  us  with  many  expres- 
sions of  delight  that  their  boy,  Manny,  was  a  changed 
character.  There  has  been  no  recurrence  of  his  de- 
linquencies.) 

Case  31.  The  following  is  an  instance  of  excessive 
stealing  carried  on  by  a  young  boy  over  a  period  of 


CONFLICTS  RESULTING  IN  STEALING     249 

about  two  years,  without  the  sHghtest  understanding 
of  the  essential  features  of  the  ease  being  gained  either 
by  the  parents,  teachers,  or  others  who  tried  to  cope 
with  the  situation.  Mental  analysis  quickly  revealed 
the  factors  in  the  background. 

When  he  was  only  eight  years  and  two  months  of 
age,  Barty  M.  was  brought  to  us  with  a  long  record 
of  thieving.  His  father,  a  fairly  intelligent  working- 
man,  stated  that  what  he  had  to  pay  back  for  this 
boy's  stealing  had  been  a  distinct  hardship  to  the 
family.  Barty  had  been  thieving  for  two  years,  and 
his  behavior  in  this  respect  was  getting  worse  of  late. 
Letters  from  two  different  schools  were  sent  to  us ; 
the  boy  had  been  rejected  from  both.  One  principal 
stated  that  Barty  "seems  to  have  a  mania  for  stealing"  ; 
he  had  twice  taken  money  from  his  teacher's  purse, 
and  warning  and  scolding  had  failed  to  deter  him  from 
prowling  about  when  the  school  was  not  in  session. 
The  report  from  the  other  principal  read,  "The  boy 
seems  to  be  really  a  kleptomaniac  and  should  be  put 
in  an  institution  where  he  should  have  special  over- 
sight." Articles  were  said  to  be  missed  whenever  he 
was  about.  He  took  keys  for  which  he  had  no  use 
and  hid  them.  One  teacher  stated  that  he  would  steal 
anything  he  could  get  his  hands  on,  and  that  after 
scolding  and  punishment  on  one  day,  he  would  be 
found  rummaging  in  some  room  on  the  next  day. 
Many  times  he  had  stolen  from  home.  On  one  occa- 
sion he  had  taken  his  father's  gold  watch  and  sold  it 
for  a  nickel.  His  father  said  that  when  the  boy  went 
into  stores,  he  seemed  to  make  a  definite  endeavor 
not  to  leave  until  he  had  succeeded  in  stealing  some- 
thing.    From  one  shop  he  had  taken  a  violin.     His 


250  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

father  insists  that  he  steals  things  whether  they  have 
any  value  for  him  or  not.  His  first  reported  stealing 
was  of  pennies  from  news  stands  with  a  boy  of  his 
acquaintance. 

We  found  a  well-cared-for  little  boy,  with  good 
features,  bright  eyes,  and  shapely  head.  His  tonsils 
had  been  removed  previously.  The  only  abnormality 
found  was  a  typical  habit-spasm  of  the  muscles  about 
the  eyes. 

The  boy  was  in  the  second  grade  and  did  well  on 
tests  up  to  his  grade  and  age ;  he  was  evidently  rather 
a  bright  type,  with  a  good  fund  of  information.  Our 
findings  agreed  with  the  teacher's  statement. 

Careful  inquiry  into  the  heredity  brought  forth 
nothing  of  interest  bearing  on  the  problem.  The 
boy's  development  had  been  normal  in  every  way. 
The  parents  chided  themselves  for  their  lack  of  fore- 
sight in  leaving  the  little  lad  with  relatives  for  two  or 
three  months  a  couple  of  years  previously  while  they 
were  away  from  the  city.  It  was  clear  to  them  that 
he  had  started  in  delinquency  then,  but  how  to  check 
him  now  was  beyond  them.  They  had  tried  admo- 
nitions and  all  ordinary  punishments  without  avail. 
The  only  point  of  weakness  was  the  fact  that  the 
mother,  part  of  the  time,  was  away  from  home  earn- 
ing money.  Barty  was  the  oldest  of  several  children, 
and  the  father  was  keenly  anxious  that  some  arrange- 
ment should  be  made  so  that  he  would  not  contaminate 
the  others. 

This  was  another  case  where  we  found  almost  no 
trouble  in  getting  at  the  essential  facts  inside  of  a  few 
hours.  Barty  gave  us  a  very  remarkable  account  of 
mental  conflicts,  one  of  the  most  straightforward  that 
we   have   ever   heard.     When    approached    from    the 


CONFLICTS  RESULTING  IN  STEALING     251 

standpoint  of  beginnings,  the  inside  history  of  the 
trouble  was  rapidly  brought  to  light.  There  was 
another  boy  whom  he  began  to  tell  us  about,  a  boy 
he  did  not  see  any  more  because  the  father  would  not 
allow  the  families  to  associate.  This  lad  had  shown 
him  the  trick  of  stealing  from  news  stands,  but  more 
than  that,  he  had  taught  Barty  a  lot  of  bad  words.  It 
was  only  words ;  he  had  been  shown  no  bad  pictures. 

When  Barty  was  asked  if  anything  nowadays  both- 
ered him  or  made  him  nervous,  he  made  it  very  plain 
to  us  that  certain  words  worried  him  by  coming  up 
in  his  mind.  There  were  certain  words  which  he  some- 
times involuntarily  started  to  say,  and  then,  when  he 
found  that  he  didn't  consciously  want  to  utter  them  he 
usually  forced  them  back.  He  was  not  even  willing 
to  speak  one  of  these  in  our  office,  but  finally  spelled 
one,  showing  the  strange  reaction  that  we  have  known 
other  children  to  exhibit  in  a  similar  situation.  Fur- 
ther in  the  interview  the  question  of  what  made  him 
steal  was  taken  up.  Barty  answered  us  that  it  was 
the  bad  words,  and  that  he  spells  out  these  words, 
or  starts  to  say  them,  or  they  come  up  in  his  mind, 
and  that  is  what  happens  always  before  he  steals. 
He  had  never  spoken  at  all  of  this  matter  to  his  parents. 
No  one  else  had  ever  talked  to  him  about  sex  subjects 
except  a  little  girl,  a  sister  of  this  other  boy ;  she  had 
drawn  some  peculiar  pictures,  the  import  of  which 
he  did  not  understand,  but  she  indicated  to  him  that 
they  represented  such  things.  The  boy  himself  intro- 
duced the  subject  of  his  dreams  about  stealing,  but 
they  were  incoherently  related  in  childish  fashion. 
Barty  insisted  that  no  one  had  taught  him  any  bad 
sex  habits,  and  he  seemed  not  to  know  definitely  about 
these,  only  in  a  vague  sort  of  way  through  the  words 


252  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

which  he  had  been  taught ;  indeed,  he  insisted,  and 
it  really  appeared,  that  he  did  not  know  the  exact 
meaning  of  the  words  themselves. 

An  attempt  to  analyze  the  background  of  some  par- 
ticular stealing  event  brought  out  the  fact  that  before 
he  had  looted  his  teacher's  pocketbook,  the  other  day, 
he  had  been  thinking  of  the  old  affairs  with  the  other 
boy  and  of  the  bad  words  and  of  the  stealing  from  news 
stands.  When  he  took  the  watch  from  his  father,  he 
had  also  been  previously  thinking  about  the  other 
fellow.  The  father  had  to  sleep  during  the  daytime 
because  he  worked  at  night,  and  it  was  supposed  to 
be  the  boy's  duty  to  be  quiet  and  attend  to  the  house 
when  he  was  not  at  school.  (Because  his  mother  was 
so  much  away  from  home  Barty  had  been  given  many 
hours  when  his  mind  was  unoccupied  and  unarmed 
against  the  ideas  and  imageries  connected  with  his 
earlier  unfortunate  experiences.)  Again  and  again  he 
reaffirmed  that  his  mind  was  assailed  by  thoughts  which 
he  endeavored  to  repress,  that  it  was  the  thoughts  about 
what  this  boy  had  told  him,  thoughts  which  he  had 
never  mentioned  to  any  one  else,  that  made  him  steal. 

On  talking  over  the  matter  with  the  father,  who 
showed  rather  meager  comprehension  of  the  whole 
situation,  it  was  clear  to  us  that  the  case  would  have 
to  be  worked  out  away  from  home.  We  advised  that 
the  social  worker  who  brought  in  the  case  should 
find  another  home  temporarily  for  the  boy.  Perhaps 
relatives  might  be  found  who  would  take  him,  and, 
particularly,  we  insisted  that  some  one  whom  he  saw 
often  must  directly  face  out  with  this  little  lad  the 
real  nature  of  his  troubles,  as  he  himself  wished  to 
have  them  faced. 

During  further  trial   at  home  for  several   months 


CONFLICTS   RESULTING   IN   STEALING     253 

by  the  wish  of  his  parents,  Barty  still  engaged  in  steal- 
ing. We  felt  that  nothing  really  constructive  was 
being  done  in  the  case,  and  indeed,  upon  seeing  the 
boy  again,  we  found  that  he  was  still  being  troubled 
occasionally  by  his  old  thoughts.  He  repeatedly 
ran  away  from  home  during  this  interval,  but  evi- 
dently did  try  at  times  to  do  better.  His  naive  state- 
ment was,  "I  try  to  think  about  good  things  now  and 
to  get  rid  of  those  bad  words.  I  try,  but  I  can't 
always.  There  is  just  six  words  now  that  I  am  trying 
to  get  rid  of.  That  one  that  used  to  bother  me  most 
I  don't  think  much  about  any  more." 

We  felt  that  it  was  distinctly  a  bad  circumstance 
that  he  had  been  occasionally  seeing  the  other  boy 
again.  The  parents  were  now  ready  to  take  our 
advice,  and  the  boy  was  placed  in  another  home,  where 
for  over  a  year  he  has  been  an  entirely  different  boy ; 
there  have  been  no  complaints  whatever  of  his  steal- 
ing. He  has  been  with  a  woman  who  understands 
something  of  these  cases  and  who  has  endeavored  to 
make  him  confide  his  difficulties  to  her. 

Case  32.  Thoroughly  representative  and  marvel- 
ouslj^  illuminating  is  the  following  career  of  patholog- 
ical stealing,  or  "kleptomania",  which  we  have  watched 
for  years.  The  misdoer,  a  young  woman  of  high  intel- 
ligence, had  discernment  enough  to  seek  advice  her- 
self about  her  own  long-continued  aberrations  of  con- 
duct. Through  several  favoring  circumstances  we 
were  enabled  to  obtain  not  only  the  outlines,  but  also 
many  interesting  details  of  this  person's  conduct  and 
of  her  mental  life  which  pertained  to  her  delinquencies. 
It  is  a  matter  of  no  small  interest  that  this  young 
woman  was  never  in  the  hands  of  the  police. 


254  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

Mildred  E.,  when  we  were  first  asked  to  study  her 
case,  was  attending  a  noted  eastern  seminary  in  her 
home  city.  By  a  distant  relative  we  were  given  a 
first  statement  of  numerous  peculations  which  had 
extended  over  months,  but  which  did  not  presume 
to  include  all  of  her  offenses.  Mildred  had  no  imme- 
diate family,  and  the  widowed  and  childless  aunt,  with 
whom  she  had  lived  for  many  years,  knew  very  little 
about  her  intimate  life.  The  girl  was  now  eighteen 
and  had  been  away  intermittently  at  boarding  schools 
before  matriculating  at  this  seminary.  Between  times 
in  the  last  two  years,  and  even  during  her  attendance 
at  school,  she  had  readily  earned  money  for  herself. 
Mildred  was  looking  forward  to  some,  as  yet  undecided, 
kind  of  professional  work ;  she  had  always  given  high 
promise  of  good  intellectual  attainment.  She  was 
also  very  well  and  strong,  and  for  all  of  these  reasons 
the  aunt  had  felt  that  the  girl  was  very  little  of  a  prob- 
lem. Her  tendencies  to  mischief  and  self-assertion 
were  no  more  than  many  an  adolescent  girl  shows, 
and  appeared  to  represent  only  "  healthy  outbreaks." 

A  statement  of  Mildred's  discernible  qualities  is 
easy  to  give.  She  appeared  to  be  a  very  well-developed 
and  strong  young  woman ;  examination  showed  no 
sensory  or  other  defect  of  importance.  She  looked 
somewhat  flabby,  and  her  slightly  slouch^'  attitude 
and  rather  pasty  color  suggested  insufficient  exercise. 
To  this  neglect  Mildred  confessed,  and  also  to  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  constitutional  physical  indolence,  in 
spite  of  the  possession  of  much  latent  strength  which 
could  be  displayed  at  pleasure. 

Mildred's  intellectual  development  was  best  meas- 
ured by  her  scholarship  records.  We  had  the  oppor- 
tunity of  seeing  her  school  marks  for  years  back  and 


CONFLICTS  RESULTING   IN   STExiLING     255 

of  judging  her  ability  in  other  ways.  She  demonstrated 
the  possession  of  well-rounded  capabilities ;  she  was 
equally  good  in  mathematics  and  history  and  best 
of  all  in  language.  Perhaps  Mildred's  mental  powers 
may  be  most  significantly  summarized  by  citing  a 
statement  of  the  principal  of  the  seminary,  herself 
a  woman  of  large  experience:  "Mildred  has  the  best 
mind  in  a  thousand  —  comparing  her  with  young 
women  of  high  school  grade."  Mildred's  further 
development  since  we  have  known  her  has  justified 
these  earlier  conclusions.  When  at  times  she  has  not 
done  well  with  her  studies,  it  has  been  from  downright 
neglect  of  them,  mostly  accounted  for  by  inner  mental 
stress. 

We  ascertained  nothing  of  great  import  for  us  con- 
cerning Mildred's  developmental  history  on  the  physical 
side,  and  she  showed  no  signs  of  having  grown  in  any 
but  the  most  normal  way.  She  only  suffered  from 
very  slight  attacks  of  the  diseases  of  childhood.  As 
the  result  of  a  fall,  she  is  said  to  have  been  threatened 
with  some  spinal  trouble  at  two  or  three  years,  and 
wore  for  a  time  a  special  sort  of  support.  Menstrua- 
tion came  rather  late,  at  fifteen  years ;  there  have  been 
no  abnormalities  of  this  function. 

The  facts  of  heredity  have  no  particular  significance 
for  us,  except  in  one  point,  namely,  concerning  the 
tendencies  of  Mildred's  father.  He  was  a  journalist 
of  ability  who  showed  hypersexual  tendencies,  and 
on  account  of  this  and  some  alleged  dishonesty,  the 
mother  left  him.  She  was  a  frail  woman  who  soon 
afterwards  died,  leaving  Mildred  at  eight  years  of 
age,  without  income,  to  be  brought  up  by  the  aunt. 
Not  long  after  that  the  father  himself  was  accidentally 
killed. 


256  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

A  thorough-going  account  of  Mildred's  life,  even  as 
we  have  it,  would  equal  a  small  book  in  size,  with 
very  few  uninteresting  pages.  I  shall  attempt  here 
merely  sufficient  statement  of  the  issues  of  her  career, 
so  that  the  reader  may  appreciate  the  extent  to  which 
her  conduct  was  motivated  by  mental  conflict.  Be- 
sides this,  I  hope  to  make  specific  and  clear  the  fact 
of  the  conflict  itself.  For  entire  confidence  in  the 
reality  of  many  of  the  statements,  we  are  indebted 
to  Mildred's  notebooks  and  diaries,  which  have  been 
kept  since  preadolescence  including  the  several  years 
before  she  knew  that  her  case  was  ever  going  to  be 
the  subject  of  professional  study.  We  have  known 
other  adolescent  delinquents  to  keep  a  diary ;  and 
even  the  idea  of  a  cryptogram,  such  as  the  one  Mildred 
invented  and  extensively  used,  we  have  heard  of  in 
other  instances.  It  is  Mildred's  superior  powers  of 
expression  and  self-analysis  and  reasoning  which  make 
her  own  study  of  her  case  so  extremely  valuable  for 
professional  people.  She  is  gifted  with  great  powers 
of  objective  and  subjective  "awareness."  The  mental 
mechanisms  at  work  in  her  conflict  and  the  ensuing 
conduct  are  entirely  typical. 

The  misdoing  that  Mildred  indulged  in  should,  per- 
haps, at  once  be  particularized.  When  we  saw  her 
first  she  had  for  years  been  accustomed  to  steal  in  the 
most  extensive  fashion.  Earlier,  apparently,  her  petty 
thieving  had  gone  on  more  or  less  steadily,  but  of  late 
there  had  been  much  fighting  against  her  impulses  in 
this  direction,  with  the  result  that  only  from  time  to 
time  were  there  definite  outbreaks  —  orgies  of  steal- 
ing would  be  engaged  in. 

When  Mildren  came  to  us,  one  of  the  earliest  com- 
ments that  she  made  was  that  she  did  not  think  she 


CONILICTS   RESULTING   IN   STEALING     257 

was  exactly  a  "kleptomaniac."  She  volunteered  this 
information  because  she  had  been  thinking  and  even 
reading  about  the  subject.  She  combated  the  idea 
of  such  a  classification  of  herself,  and  said  that  she  did 
not  believe  she  took  things  for  which  she  had  no  use. 
However,  even  a  superficial  analysis  of  the  facts  showed 
us  clearly  that  this  was  a  weak  defense  on  her  part, 
for  she  quickly  revealed  her  impulse  towards  stealing 
itself  and  not  towards  taking  objects  for  their  value. 
In  fact,  we  later  studied  the  remarkable  accounts 
which  Mildred  kept  of  her  peculations  at  different 
times  —  kept  for  the  purpose  of  ultimately  paying 
back  what  she  had  stolen  —  and  these  showed  clearlv 
the  absurd  uselessness  to  her  of  many  of  the  articles 
stolen.  This  point  will  later  come  out  more  distinctly. 
It  would  be  diflicult  to  enumerate  the  thefts  which 
this  clever  girl  had  committed,  but  no  doubt  the 
number  would  range  well  up  in  the  hundreds. 

Another  type  of  misconduct  had  just  been  displayed 
by  Mildred  at  the  time  we  first  saw  her.  She  had  on 
several  occasions  slipped  out  of  her  room  at  night  and 
stayed  until  daybreak,  remaining  out  under  the  most 
incongruous  circumstances,  sleeping  in  some  one's 
back  yard  on  an  old  carpet,  or  on  some  back  porch. 
By  carefully  planned  falsehoods,  she  had  been  able 
thus  to  sleep  out  for  a  week  in  the  spring,  while  her 
aunt  thought  that  she  was  at  the  seminary,  and  the 
authorities  there  supposed  she  was  at  home  with  her 
aunt. 

Falsifying  was  never  a  prominent  delinquency  with 
Mildred.  In  general,  she  was  an  unusually  frank 
girl  with  the  few  who  she  felt  understood  her.  To  her 
aunt,  no  doubt,  she  occasionally  told  a  few  lies,  "fibs", 
as  she  called  them.     In  all  of  our  long  acquaintance 


258  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

we  have  only  known  her  to  deceive  us,  and  then  slightly, 
in  regard  to  one  or  two  events ;  in  the  main  everything 
has  turned  out  to  be  as  she  asserted.  During  the 
ensuing  years,  with  the  increase  of  temptations,  Mildred 
has  succumbed  to  sex  delinquencies ;  the  phases  of 
this  part  of  her  career  make  the  fact  of  her  conflict 
even  more  certain. 

Mildred  graduated  early  from  the  grammar  grades 
and  began  at  twelve  or  thirteen  to  be  an  omnivorous 
and  rapid  reader.  It  was  no  credit  to  those  who 
were  directing  her  that  she  was  allowed  to  lose  at  least 
a  couple  of  years  educationally  through  change  of 
plans  and  irregular  attendance  at  her  boarding  school. 
To  be  sure,  the  necessity  for  economy  influenced  her 
aunt,  but  the  girl  was  developing,  undirected,  an  un- 
usual amount  of  mental  life,  composed  of  ill-assorted 
facts,  vivid  imaginative  processes,  and  much  adolescent 
introspective  reasoning.  She  first  began  to  earn  money 
when  she  was  about  sixteen  by  working  for  a  few  days 
at  a  time  in  shops,  and  in  a  department  store  during 
one  entire  vacation. 

This  account  of  Mildred's  case  may  now  leave  her 
general  mental  development  and  proceed  to  her  im- 
pulses, their  origins  and  outcome  in  misconduct. 
The  reader  will  best  get  some  idea  of  the  vividness  of 
Mildred's  original  case-history  from  her  own  words 
to  us  and  from  some  quotations  from  her  diary ;  these 
are  interspersed  with  our  connecting  remarks,  which 
are  introduced  to  save  scores  of  pages  of  quotation 
which  otherwise  would  be  necessary. 

Concerning  Mildred's  stealing  we  heard  the  follow- 
ing:  "I  have  worked  at  F.'s  for  the  last  four  weeks, 
since  vacation  started,  but  before  that  I  had  not  taken 
anything  since  December.     Then  there  was  a  big  row 


CONFLICTS   RESULTING   IN   STEALING     259 

at  school,  and  I  was  connected  with  it,  but  other  things 
were  really  the  trouble  with  me.  I  didn't  take  any- 
thing else  until  three  weeks  ago.  After  once  I  begin, 
I  cannot  seem  to  stop.  I  did  stop  for  five  months, 
but  that  seems  to  be  my  limit.  .  .  .  Sometimes 
when  I  do  wrong  I  feel  as  if  I  cannot  stand  it.  It 
worries  me  because  I  do  such  foolhardy  things.  Some- 
times I  get  scared  when  I  get  home,  scared  that  I  have 
done  these  things  for  which  I  might  get  caught.  But 
when  I  am  taking  things,  I  just  say  to  myself, 'Well, 
I'm  not  going  to  get  scared  just  because  there  are  half 
a  dozen  clerks  around  the  counter.'  When  I  get  home 
it  is  different;  then  I  am  scared.  Sometimes  I  think 
I  have  to  do  these  things  and  get  terribly  reckless ; 
it  seems  then  to  make  life  interesting." 

"Just  what  did  I  take  last  time?  Well,  there  was 
a  lot  of  things.  I  took  a  copy  of  Wells'  Algebra  at  T.'s 
on  Washington  Street;  I  don't  know  why,  I  guess 
I  just  wanted  to  take  it.  Then  I  took  a  twelve-cent 
ring,  but  put  it  back ;  I  could  have  bought  it  if  I  had 
wanted  it.  Then  I  went  to  F.'s  and  took  a  book  — 
I  forget  the  name  of  it  —  then  I  walked  around  the 
block  with  it  and  put  it  back.  I  went  over  to  M.'s 
and  had  in  mind  to  take  a  novel.  I  had  no  particular 
one  in  mind,  but  wanted  one  of  the  very  latest  ones. 
I  rode  up  in  the  elevator,  but  thought  better  of  it 
and  came  down  again.  Over  at  T.'s  I  inquired  how 
much  the  algebra  was ;  I  told  the  clerk  I  didn't  have 
the  money,  and  he  turned  away  and  I  took  the  book. 
I  did  these  things  at  the  noon  hour.  Then  I  went 
back  to  work  and  felt  so  nervous  that  I  asked  the 
superintendent  if  I  could  come  home  because  I  felt 
so  badly,  and  he  said  yes.  I  have  been  staying  for 
a  few  weeks  with  my  friends,  the  Smiths,  who  knew 


260  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

that  I  stole  last  winter  at  the  school,  and  they  are 
trying  to  help  me  to  do  better.  I  have  promised  to 
tell  them  whenever  I  take  things.  Of  course,  I  was 
ashamed  to  go  back  to  the  Smiths.  Of  course,  I  need 
not  have  told  them,  but  I  was  ashamed  not  to  tell 
them,  so  I  slept  out  in  a  back  yard  after  I  had  pre- 
tended over  the  telephone  that  I  was  going  home  for 
the  night.  The  next  day  Mrs.  Smith  came  down  to 
the  shop,  and  I  went  home  with  her,  but  I  kept  right 
on  stealing  things  for  a  time  then.  I  took  silk  stock- 
ings and  pearl  beads  and  some  booklets  and  silver 
buckles  and  a  lot  of  other  things  in  the  next  few  days. 
I  just  picked  them  up  and  walked  out  with  them ; 
there  was  no  trouble  in  doing  that.  Mrs.  Smith  asked 
me  last  Saturday  if  I  had  been  doing  well,  and  I  had 
to  tell  her  that  I  had  not.  I  felt  so  cut  up  that  I 
could  barely  stay  there,  finally  I  skipped  out  late  at 
night  and  slept  in  an  old  place  where  I  had  slept  before, 
in  a  back  yard  on  the  porch ;  if  it  was  raining,  I  would 
sleep  on  the  porch.  This  time  I  didn't  have  any 
money  and  didn't  have  a  mouthful  of  food  for  break- 
fast or  lunch.  The  Smiths  called  me  up,  but  I  just 
wouldn't  go  there  that  day.  I  told  them  I  would 
go  back  to  my  aunt's.  They  didn't  know  her  very 
well,  because  I  had  gone  to  them  by  myself.  I  have 
always  been  very  well.  .  .  .  Look  at  me  now;  I 
haven't  slept  in  a  bed  for  six  days,  and  that  goes  to 
show  I  am  a  pretty  strong  girl." 

"  I  wonder  whv  it  is  so  different  with  me  on  different 
days.  Sometimes  it  is  not  hard  at  all  for  me  to  stop 
from  stealing.  Other  days  it  is.  Last  year  it  was 
just  stealing  and  stealing,  from  school  and  home  and 
friends.  Then  I  went  from  June  until  November. 
I  am  afraid  I  used  to  get  up  schemes.     In  school  I 


CONFLICTS   RESULTING   IN   STEALING     261 

was  always  thinking  up  ideas  and  then  wondering 
whether  I  would  be  found  out  or  not.  Of  course, 
it  took  my  mind  off  my  work.  I  got  to  spending 
money  freely  at  one  time,  and  it  just  seemed  as  if  I 
had  to.  To  keep  this  up  I  used  to  take  change  from 
my  aunt,  and  at  school  I  used  to  take  out  of  girls' 
pocketbooks,  or  even  pennies  in  the  dressing  room. 
It  was  during  the  winter  there  came  up  one  of  those 
scenes  I  hate ;  oh,  how  I  hate  them,  but  they  said 
they'd  give  me  another  chance.  The  principal  says 
she  does  not  want  to  stand  in  the  way  of  my  finishing 
my  education,  but  why  did  I  do  it ;  that's  just  what 
I  don't  know.  Why  it  should  be  me  that  should  do 
these  things  when  other  girls  don't,  is  more  than  I  can 
tell." 

Of  course,  on  numerous  occasions  Mildred  has  been 
questioned  by  us  about  her  earliest  beginning  of  steal- 
ing; no  one  else  could  tell  us  about  that.  "Do  you 
know,  I  believe  that  I  began  from  untruthfulness  and 
worked  into  little  dishonesty.  That's  as  it  seems  to 
me,  now  that  you  asked  me  to  think  about  it.  I 
would  do  something  I  was  told  not  to  do  in  little  ways, 
perhaps  take  a  little  more  cream  than  I  was  allowed 
to  take,  or  maybe  two  apples  instead  of  one.  I  am 
sure  that  I  went  from  untruthfulness  to  stealing.  .  .  . 
I  have  been  trying  to  think  why  there  is  fascination 
in  it  for  me,  and  it  seems  to  me  I  have  been  led  on 
from  one  thing  to  another ;  it  went  from  a  cookie  to 
a  nickel,  from  a  nickel  to  a  dime.  I  got  much  from 
my  aunt  through  deception,  and  I  took  from  many 
other  people  in  lots  of  ways  —  my  aunt  had  boarders 
at  one  time.  One  man  kept  nickels  in  a  drawer  for 
the  telephone.  .  .  .  One  time  it  seems  as  if  the 
candy  habit  had  much  to  do  with  it.     It  seemed  as 


262  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

if  I  just  must  have  candy,  and  if  I  didn't  have  money 
to  buy  it,  I  used  to  take  candy  from  the  store ;  that 
was  a  school  store,  and  once  I  took  a  book  there  and 
sold  it  to  a  girl  for  a  dollar  and  a  quarter  to  get  money, 
which  I'd  spend  in  the  same  store.  It  seemed  wrong 
to  me  to  be  so  intemperate  about  that  candy,  to  have 
such  strong  desire  for  it.  One  winter  I  pretended 
my  cough  was  worse  so  that  I  could  get  money  from 
my  aunt  for  candy.  I  used  to  eat  so  much  sometimes 
that  I  didn't  want  my  meals.  I  used  to  do  peculiar 
things  in  that  way.  When  I  was  working,  I  once 
went  two  days  without  eating  at  all ;  I  just  had  water. 
I  well  remember  the  first  time  I  took  any  big  chances 
on  stealing;  I  was  staying  with  a  girl  overnight.  I 
got  up  very  early  one  morning  and  slipped  down 
to  the  parlor  and  took  some  money  that  was  there. 
I  always  thought  a  good  deal  of  those  people,  and  I 
don't  think  they  ever  accused  me,  but,  after  all,  I  was 
the  only  one  in  the  house  besides  their  own  family. 
That  was  big  chances.  I  mailed  that  money  back 
to  them  not  long  ago  without  any  name.  I  made 
a  good  deal  by  deceiving  as  well  as  by  stealing,  and  I 
have  been  terribly  untruthful  in  that  way,  but  I  have 
always  tried  to  have  a  grain  of  sense  about  it,  and  I 
have  been  discreet;  I  have  never  told  glaring  false- 
hoods. ...  It  was  always  a  fascination  for  me  to 
feel  that  I  could  get  what  I  wanted  when  I  wanted 
it,  though  later  I  had  the  feeling  that  I  ought  to  pay 
for  it  and  sometimes  did  so.  .  .  .  But  they  knew 
I  stole  in  school.  I  was  getting  into  a  good  deal  of 
trouble  through  disobedience,  and  I  got  scolded  and 
pretty  nearly  suspended,  both  at  boarding  school  and 
the  seminary." 

Mildred    was    never    sanctimonious    with    us;     her 


CONFLICTS  RESULTING   IN   STEALING     263 

contriteness  was  shown  a  hundred  times  more  by  what 
she  had  written  in  her  diary  than  by  what  she  said. 
On  several  occasions,  after  a  period  of  excessive  steal- 
ing, she  recorded  what  she  had  taken.  Her  notes  of 
one  of  the  more  recent  orgies,  extending  over  a  few 
days,  stated  that  she  had  stolen  money  from  three 
different  people  and  taken  nine  separate  articles  or 
parcels  from  shops.  The  girl  made  little  to  us  of  her 
attempts  to  repay  what  she  had  taken,  but  we  heard 
from  the  Smiths,  who  made  a  more  detailed  investi- 
gation of  her  recent  stealing  than  we  ever  cared  to, 
that  she  worked  very  hard  and  saved  very  carefully 
for  long  periods  to  remit,  anonymously,  conscience 
money  in  repayment  of  what  she  had  taken. 

We  were,  naturally,  very  keenly  interested  in  the 
fact  that  Mildred  had  been  willing  on  quite  a  few  occa- 
sions to  do  such  a  strange  thing  as  to  slip  into  some 
one's  back  yard  late  at  night  and  sleep  there.  We 
recognized  the  recklessness  and  adventuresomeness 
of  the  girl,  at  least  as  showing  strongly  at  times,  but 
that  hardly  would  explain,  it  seemed  to  us,  this  be- 
havior. Mildred  attempted  to  make  light  of  it,  first 
saying  how  she  liked  the  open  sky,  and  then,  that  it 
was  all  the  same  to  her  because  she  was  accustomed 
to  a  sleeping  porch  at  her  aunt's.  It  gradually  came 
out  that  on  all  but  one  of  these  night  escapades  she 
had  slept  in  the  same  place,  and  finally  we  learned 
that  she  knew  the  people  who  lived  in  the  cottage. 
It  was  the  home  of  a  former  teacher,  a  middle-aged 
man  and  his  family.  Inquiry  into  what  prompted 
her  in  this  direction  revealed  that  at  one  time,  a  couple 
of  years  previously,  a  tremendous  platonic  friendship 
for  this  man  had  existed  in  Mildred's  mind,  all  unknown 
to  him. 


264  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

"There  has  always  been  somebody  in  my  Hfe  that 
could  have  controlled  me,  somebody  to  whom  I  would 
not  tell  an  untruth.  That  has  been  my  code  of  honor. 
The  summer  before  last  was  very  hard.  It  was  be- 
cause I  could  not  see  any  more  some  one  who  was 
very  dear  to  me.  I  don't  know  whether  you  would 
call  it  love,  or  what  you  would  call  it ;  this  was  a  man 
that  I  admired  and  thought  a  great  deal  of  in  every 
way.  He  seemed  to  inspire  my  life.  He  was  a  teacher. 
He  never  said  anything  to  me  at  all,  but  if  you  won't 
laugh,  I'll  tell  you  that  for  six  or  eight  months  there 
was  not  an  hour  in  the  day  that  I  did  not  think  of  him. 
I  don't  know  whether  you  call  love  a  sweet  pain  or  not, 
but  that  is  what  it  seemed  to  be.  ...  I  have  al- 
ways been  lonely  and  gone  much  by  myself.  I  never 
had  many  friends.  I  never  talked  with  girls  about 
boys,  but  I  did  think  much  about  them.  Ever  since 
I  was  eight  or  ten  years  old  there  have  always  been 
some  boys  in  the  schoolroom  that  I  have  thought  a 
good  deal  of.  I  was  always  shy  and  ashamed  of  it 
and  maybe  did  not  speak  to  them  at  all.  I  was  never 
forward  like  other  girls.  There  would  be  some  one 
in  every  class  when  I  went  to  public  school,  but  it 
would  change.  I  never  knew  any  of  them  that  were 
very  bad,  or  who  stole.  .  .  .  Well,  the  way  I  feel 
about  young  people  is  that  I  guess  a  good  many  of 
them  are  pretty  gay.  I  know  that  nine  girls  out  of 
ten  are  looser  than  I  would  like  them  to  be,  and  that 
is  why  I  never  made  friends  with  many  of  them,  even 
in  the  grammar  school.  There  are  not  many  of  them 
so  strait-laced  and  pure  and  innocent  as  I  have  been. 
It  has  always  seemed  to  me,  without  the  shadow  of  a 
doubt,  that  I  was  better  than  nine  out  of  ten  girls. 
They  will  go  out  once   in  a  while   and  do   things   I 


CONFLICTS   RESULTING   IN   STEALING     265 

would  not  do,  come  in  early  in  the  morning  from 
dances." 

Mildred,  in  the  early  days  we  knew  her,  made  much 
of  the  gloominess  of  life,  as  it  appeared  to  her  at  times. 
She  had  considered  this  point  and  called  our  attention 
to  the  fact  that  she  had  checked  up  in  her  diary  these 
days  of  depression  and  found  out  that  they  did  not 
correspond  to  her  menstrual  periods.  (We  were 
also  convinced  from  our  own  study  of  her  diaries, 
which  she  taught  us  to  interpret,  that  her  stealing 
escapades  were  not  regularly  near  the  time  of  men- 
struation.) "I  have  times  of  being  very  gloomy  and 
depressed,  and  they  come  on  me  when  I  think  of  lots 
of  different  things.  For  a  long  time  I  have  carried 
around  corrosive  sublimate  with  me.  I  heard  about 
that  being  a  poison,  and  I  had  a  package  with  me.  I 
always  said  to  myself  if  the  worst  comes  to  the  worst 
and  they  catch  me,  I'll  fix  it  all  before  I  get  to  the 
police  station."  (It  was  a  rather  amusing  episode 
that  the  hem  of  the  long  coat  into  which  she  had  this 
poison  sewed  became  torn,  and  the  poison  escaped, 
unknown  to  her,  and  caused  a  dermatitis  medicamentosa 
over  her  ankles.)  That  Mildred  at  other  times  carried 
poisons  we  happened  to  know,  for  once,  after  a  period 
of  backsliding,  she  handed  over  to  us  a  bottle  of  lau- 
danum. At  that  time  she  also  gave  up  a  small  re- 
volver. It  is  highly  significant  that  as  time  has  gone 
on,  Mildred's  periods  of  depression  have  become  less 
heavy  and  frequent,  corresponding  to  her  relief  from 
mental  conflict  and  the  breaking  up  of  her  habit 
of  stealing. 

The  high  ambitions  which  Mildred  has  frequently 
expressed  to  us,  and  which  are  found  stated  so  ardently 
in  her  diaries,  have  been  held  with  constancy  —  even 


266  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

have  been  reasserted  after  the  young  woman  had  sunk 
to  great  depths.  Nowhere  are  her  resolves  better 
stated  than  in  an  idyll  written  soon  after  daybreak 
one  spring  morning  in  a  park  overlooking  the  sea, 
whence  she  had  repaired  after  sleeping  out  all  night 
on  the  old  carpet  on  the  back-yard  porch.  We  may 
excerpt  the  following : 

"Sunday  morning.  The  beauty  and  peace  and 
quiet  of  this  spot  here  in  the  park  fills  my  heart  with 
joy  and  takes  from  me  all  worries  and  cares  and  anguish. 
I  feel  as  the  birds  and  the  flowers.  God  will  provide 
for  me  as  for  them.  I  will  enjoy  the  moment.  'Use 
well  the  moment.  What  the  hour  brings  for  thy  use 
is  in  thy  power.'  ...  I  think  I  enjoy  this  sense  of 
being  entirely  my  own  master,  of  having  the  day  to 
do  as  I  please  in  and  go  where  I  want.  ...  I  have 
longed  to  do  this  before  and  yet  never  dared  to  when 
at  home.  Now  I  seem  to  dare  to  do  anything  and 
everything.  I  won't  go  back  anywhere  until  I  feel 
surer  than  I  do  now  that  it  will  never  be  repeated. 
The  more  I  do  it  the  greater  the  fascination  becomes, 
and  yet  it  means  my  ruin  if  I  don't  win.  As  J.  said, 
it  means  the  '  pen '  and  a  ruined  life  unless  I  learn  entire 
self-control  in  all  things  as  well  as  stealing,  for  it  would 
be  the  same  thing  with  smoking,  drinking,  or  opiates 
as  it  has  been  with  candy  and  everything  else.  But 
I  can't  go  into  hysterics  and  tragedies  on  this  glorious, 
beautiful  morning  in  this  lovely  spot  with  the  bright 
sunshine  and  clear  sky  and  beautiful  shades  of  green. 
I  want  to  love  life,  enjoy  the  true  and  beautiful,  and 
gain  strength  for  this  last  final  effort.  The  scene 
makes  me  forget  circumstances,  consequences,  and 
makes  me  at  rest.  'Whatever  line  you  follow,  re- 
member you  have  the  strength  for  noble  endeavor 


CONFLICTS   RESULTING   IN   STEALING     267 

and  grand  result,  and  use  it.'  'Resolve  to  be  thyself 
and  know  that  he  who  finds  himself  loses  his  misery.'" 

Various  short  bits  of  poetry  and  record  of  numerous 
resolutions  attest  throughout  her  diaries  Mildred's 
real  desires  and  her  introspective  realization  of  her 
own  moods  and  tendencies.  Sometimes  done  care- 
lessly, her  writing  in  other  places  shows  considerable 
literary  ability.  Two  more  quotations  will  show  some- 
thing of  her  complex  nature.  On  one  New  Year's 
eve  she  summarizes  the  past  year  as  : 

"A  year  to  regret  and  weep  over,  but  not  worth  it; 
a  year  of  wasted  opportunities  and  weakness,  and  yet 
all  to  be  forgotten  except  for  the  lessons  it  may  have 
taught  me  for  all  time.  Let  it  go,  and  thank  God  for 
the  new  one  —  may  it  be  better,  truer,  and  nobler, 
may  I  learn  from  what  this  year  has  brought  me,  the 
value  of  self-control,  of  a  good,  noble,  true  and  unselfish 
life ;  of  work,  economy,  time,  energy,  and  of  the  good, 
the  true,  the  beautiful." 

On  a  certain  birthday  Mildred  writes  a  summary  of 
her  own  character:  "A  dreamer  and  an  idealist, 
romantic  and  quick-tempered,  warm-hearted ;  life 
governed  entirely  by  good  or  bad  impulsive  moments, 
lazy  and  extravagant,  yet  a  good  worker  when  aroused. 
.  .  .  Capable  of  great  things  if  only  there  was  some 
impulse  to  bring  out  the  best  and  hold  to  it.  .  .  . 
Desperately  lonely.  .  .  .  Only  attracted  by  a  good 
grown-up  man,  who  has  a  good  influence  and  a  great 
one  on  my  life.  .  .  .  Governed  by  habits  and  ap- 
petite, continually  at  war  with  self,  and  striving  to  be 
better  and  understand  self,  a  weak,  morally  useless 
girl,  ...  a  strange,  self-centered  child-woman,  for 
whose  condition  there  is  much  excuse,  who  alone  knows 
of  her  own  struggles  of  the  soul  and  sufferings." 


268  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

Mildred  remembers  her  own  feelings  of  childhood 
quite  clearly.  She  tells  us  that  she  has  always  been 
irritable  at  home,  or  at  least  ever  since  she  was  ten  or 
twelve.  Her  aunt  scolded  her,  and  "There  was  no 
use  in  treating  me  that  way  all  the  time,  even  if  I  did 
do  things.  She  used  to  say  I  was  just  like  my  father. 
After  I  started  taking  things  I  used  to  say  to  myself 
about  her,  'If  you  talk  that  way  when  you  know  half 
of  what  I  have  done,  how  would  you  talk  if  you  knew 
all?'"  Her  aunt,  in  her  stern  way,  was,  however, 
always  good  to  Mildred,  as  the  girl  acknowledged ; 
she  loved  her  and  wanted  her  to  get  an  education. 
After  a  certain  scene  at  home,  Mildred  says  that  she 
walked  up  and  down  the  streets,  sobbing;  not  that 
her  aunt  was  perhaps  so  much  to  blame,  but  Mildred 
herself  felt  so  irritated  at  the  scolding. 

It  was  when  Mildred  was  asked  to  analyze  the  causes 
of  her  own  irritability  at  that  time  when  she  was  so 
young  that  she,  with  the  frankness  she  has  always 
displayed  with  us,  told  us  of  her  sex  life.  It  seems 
that  before  she  was  twelve,  quite  involuntarily,  she 
had  a  great  awakening  of  sex  feeling  and  developed 
many  auto-erotic  phenomena.  These  experiences  were 
a  daily  affair  with  her,  and  she  learned  by  herself,  so 
she  stated,  some  means  of  gratification.  (More  than 
likely  Mildred's  story  about  this  is  the  truth,  because 
her  diary  gives  many  indications  of  the  self-center- 
ment  and  loneliness  which  would  naturally  be  developed 
under  these  circumstances.)  She  told  no  one  about 
it,  but  after  a  time,  through  self-realization  and  some 
little  reading  of  books,  she  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
her  habits  were  wrong.  She  began  to  put  up  a  fight 
against  her  feelings  in  this  direction,  and  a  desperate 
fight  it  soon  proved  to  be.     There  were  many  indi- 


CONFLICTS   RESULTING   IN   STEALING     269 

cations  of  her  battles,  both  in  her  diaries  and  in  what 
she  told  us. 

It  seems  that  Mildred  was  only  about  ten  when, 
from  hearing  about  him,  she  suspected  what  kind  of 
man  her  father  was  —  that  he  had  been  very  free 
with  women  —  and  when  her  aunt  spoke  of  her  re- 
semblance to  him,  there  may  have  been  more  than  a 
little  suggestion  conveyed  to  her  by  the  statement. 
Her  aunt  had  talked  nicely  to  her  about  sex  matters 
when  she  was  thirteen  or  fourteen,  but  already  the 
girl  had  picked  up,  in  the  usual  ways,  more  than  her 
aunt  in  the  least  suspected.  Mildred  made  much  to 
us  of  her  excess  of  sex  longing  which  had  already  de- 
veloped at  twelve  years  of  age,  beginning  as  merely 
a  physical  affair  and  even  before  she  knew  at  all  what 
sex  functions  were.  She  is  positive  that  the  idea 
never  came  from  others  and  that  she  has  always  wanted 
to  be  a  good  girl.  "I  have  always  thought  of  affairs 
with  boys  being  so  much  worse  than  any  stealing  I  did, 
but  lately  I  have  gotten  to  think  that  perhaps  a  girl 
who  would  do  one  thing  would  do  the  other." 

Mildred  has  never  been  able  to  trace  for  us  the  earliest 
association  of  her  sex  feeling  with  her  impulse  to  steal. 
We  could  never  ascertain  that  the  two  were  related 
by  any  definite  early  experiences.  She  gave  the 
details  of  how  she  first  obtained  sex  gratification  by 
herself,  but  there  were  no  experiences  concerning  steal- 
ing at  this  time  which  impressed  themselves  in  any 
way  on  her  memory.  In  a  general  way,  however,  it 
was  just  about  this  period  when  she  began  taking 
things ;  of  that  she  has  always  seemed  sure  since  we 
first  asked  her  for  her  best  recollections  on  the  point. 
It  was  after  she  herself  evolved  the  idea  that  these 
sex  practices  were  exhausting  and  generally  bad  for 


270  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

her,  and  she  consequently  stopped  them,  that  her 
inner  hfe  began  more  intensely ;  then  she  commenced 
her  diaries.  She  manifested  platonic  friendships  and 
regarded  herself  as  a  person  who  was  striving  against 
part  of  her  own  nature.  Now  she  began  to  have 
definite  times  of  giving  way  to  the  stealing  impulse, 
which  for  two  years  already  had  manifested  itself, 
but  not  in  periods. 

Mildred  looked  upon  her  overweening  desire  for 
candy  as  a  temptation,  too,  that  should  be  striven 
against,  and  one  that  was  correlated  with  her  tendency 
to  steal.  When  about  sixteen,  Mildred  commenced 
the  clandestine  smoking  of  cigarettes ;  when  she  was 
in  a  troubled,  restless  mood,  they  quieted  her  nerves, 
she  said.  She  never  developed  enough  of  a  smoking 
habit  so  that  any  fight  against  this  was  necessary ; 
she  considered  herself  justified  in  occasionally  using 
tobacco,  since  it  helped  her  through  periods  of  dis- 
quietude. 

In  reviewing  the  violent  attacks  of  impulse  to  steal 
shown  during  the  last  couple  of  years,  Mildred  real- 
izes now,  although  she  never  formulated  it  before, 
that  these  were  related  to  her  sex  impulse;  she  re- 
members that  she  was  fighting  off  the  one  when  she 
was  giving  way  to  the  other.  The  stealing  is  an  ex- 
pression of  her  reckless  desire  at  times  for  adventure ; 
she  craves  to  do  something  active  and  extraordinary, 
just  as  she  did  the  nights  when  she  slept  out,  or  when 
she  entered  the  Smiths'  house  like  a  burglar,  up  the 
fire  escape,  after  remaining  away  till  midnight. 

Considering  the  whole  structure  of  Mildred's  mental 
conflict,  I  may  enumerate  the  following  constituent 
parts  which  enter,  one  after  another,  into  it,  or  which 
appeared  as  expressions  of  it :    (a)  She  early  learned 


CONFLICTS  RESULTING  IN  STEALING     271 

that  her  father  was  sexually  immoral.  (6)  She  was 
seoldingly  likened  to  him  —  a  suggestion  of  heredity 
that  long  continued  to  appear  ominous  to  her.  (c) 
Mildred  found  out,  before  she  was  in  her  teens,  that 
her  aunt,  in  whom  she  used  to  confide,  was  not  always 
a  teller  of  the  truth ;  this  caused  Mildred  to  repress 
much  and  developed  in  her  a  hidden  critical  attitude 
towards  her  relative,  (d)  The  child  herself  then  de- 
veloped a  habit  of  secrecy  and  untruthfulness,  just 
during  the  time  when  she  was  having  auto-erotic 
experiences,  (e)  At  about  fifteen  years  developed  the 
struggle  against  the  sex  feelings  which  had  been  going 
on  for  two  or  three  years.  (/)  This  led  to  the  establish- 
ment of  a  particularly  vivid  inner  mental  life,  includ- 
ing one-sided  platonic  friendships,  great  dwelling  on 
ideals  as  a  defense  against  backsliding,  etc.  (g)  At 
this  period  a  previously  existing  tendency  to  slight 
deceits  grew  into  larger  misrepresentations,  the  intem- 
perate use  of  candy,  and  stealing  in  petty  ways.  The 
latter,  before  long,  developed  into  expert  thieving 
from  shops  as  the  expression  of  an  irresistible  desire 
for  excitement  when  fighting  off  sex  feelings.  (//)  Also, 
Mildred's  urgent  impulses  led  her  now  to  be  a  reckless 
mischief-maker  at  school.  Later,  in  the  same  moods, 
she  indulged  in  especially  foolhardy  actions,  such  as 
sleeping  out  at  night,  walking  the  streets  for  long  in 
the  rain,  leaving  and  entering  her  room  at  night  by 
way  of  the  fire  escape,  stealing  in  a  spirit  of  bravado 
just  to  prove  to  herself  that  she  could  take  things 
from  under  the  eyes  of  clerks  in  stores. 

The  exact  age  at  which  Mildred  began  stealing  was 
not  nearly  so  easy  to  determine  as  it  is  in  many 
other  cases  of  mental  conflict  where  there  has  been  an 
original  definite  event   welding  a  link  of   association 


272  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

between  the  idea  of  stealing  and  some  other  emotional 
experience.  We  have  indicated  that  in  Mildred's  case 
stealing  appears  to  have  been  preceded  by  less  serious 
types  of  misconduct  and  was  gradually  developed  as 
a  vicarious  phenomenon.  She  was  probably  between 
fifteen  and  sixteen  before  she  really  did  more  than 
keep  pennies  and  nickels  out  of  her  aunt's  change  in 
order  to  buy  candy.  She  evidently  experienced  at 
that  age  her  first  satisfaction  in  stealing  for  its  own 
sake  by  taking  notebooks,  paper,  and  pencils,  while 
she  was  temporarily  working  in  a  store. 

Mildred  stated  very  definitely  on  several  occasions 
that  her  serious  stealing  was  always  the  reaction  to 
an  inner  feeling :  "I  just  wanted  to  make  things  more 
exciting.  For  some  weeks  before  this  last  time  I  had 
been  feeling  the  same  old  thing,  wondering  if  I 
could  steal  in  the  same  old  way,  and  how  it  would  feel. 
It  was  just  like  playing  with  fire  to  see  if  it  was  hot.'* 
We  noted  that  from  time  to  time  she  expressed  herself 

—  quite  unconsciously,  since  she  made  no  direct  refer- 
ence to  any  relationship  between  the  two  temptations 

—  in  the  same  way  about  her  sex  impulses.  All 
these  points  bear  upon  Mildred's  abreaction  to  her 
mental  conflict.  Later  observation  and  interpretation 
of  her  conduct  greatly  aids  our  understanding  of  the 
genesis  of  her  tendencies. 

When  we  first  saw  Mildred  she  was  already  in  a 
period  of  moral  transition,  having  given  up  her  imagi- 
nary platonic  friendships  and  having  begun  to  doubt 
whether  she  was  so  much  better,  after  all,  than  other 
girls  who  were  not  so  innocent  as  she  claimed  to  be. 
Mildred  had  been  evidently  helped  to  this  last  view- 
point by  the  suggestion  of  a  teacher  who  had  said 
that  "a  girl  who  would  stea«  would  do  the  other  thing." 


CONFLICTS   RESULTING   IN   STEALING     273 

She  had  also  already  surprised  herself,  she  who  had 
declared  herself  recently  in  her  diary  as  caring  for  the 
attentions  of  no  young  man,  by  allowing  a  young  fellow 
at  first  acquaintance  to  caress  her.  From  dwelling 
on  this  first  real  experience  with  the  opposite  sex 
quickly  grew  intense  physical  feelings.  As  a  result  of 
these  she  felt  that  she  might  "just  as  well  run  away 
at  once  and  go  to  the  devil";  she  could  not  help 
herself,  she  would  eventually  end  by  being  bad.  It 
seemed  like  a  touch-and-go  performance  with  her,  she 
said  ;  in  a  minute  she  might  be  right  down  in  the  depths. 
She  endeavored  now  to  get  strength  from  religion, 
but  really  perceived,  so  she  stated,  that  what  she  needed 
was  the  company  of  a  man. 

Mildred's  later  history  includes  severe  moral  lapses 
that  have  no  excuse  for  being  given  here  in  detail,  but 
the  main  facts  are  full  of  significance  for  us.  As  we 
have  seen  her  at  intervals  during  several  years,  Mildred 
has  been  frank,  as  ever,  with  us,  and  has  always  showed 
much  intelligent  apperception  of  her  own  nature  and 
possibilities.  Never  did  she  give  up  her  desire  for  a 
good  education,  although  its  furtherance  was  much 
interrupted  by  her  backslidings.  She  intermittently 
went  on  with  her  schooling  until  she  was  adequately 
fitted  for  the  calling  which  she  had  chosen. 

For  some  months  after  we  first  knew  her,  strife 
against  both  sex  temptations  and  stealing  was  bitter. 
Only  once,  however,  so  far  as  we  have  ascertained, 
was  there  ever  any  more  thieving  indulged  in.  This 
was  during  the  period  when  she  was  first  going  over 
her  case  with  us.  For  her  behavior  in  sex  affairs 
we  cannot  say  as  much,  but  to  whatever  lengths 
she  went,  each  time  she  recovered  herself  with  only  a 
temporary  submerging  of  her  ideals.     After  a  time  she 


274  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

was  established  in  marital  relations  and  became  much 
happier.  Now  she  is  an  absolutely  different  person 
in  appearance  and  bearing,  who  looks  back  upon  earlier 
days  in  the  spirit  of  her  recent  utterance  to  us,  "It  is 
very  curious  what  some  people  go  through  before  they 
settle  down." 

Concerning  the  issuance  of  her  conflict :  during  its 
exploration  with  us  she  faced  the  facts  in  straightfor- 
ward fashion,  and  the  result  has  been  complete  cessa- 
ation  for  years  past  of  all  impulse  towards  stealing. 


CHAPTER  XV 

CONFLICTS  RESULTING  IN  RUNNING  AWAY 

Running  away  from  home  as  a  type  of  delinquency 
sometimes  originating  from  mental  conflict  has  special 
interest  for  us  because  of  the  suffering  which  frequently 
accrues  to  the  delinquent  during  his  wanderings. 
The  strength  that  an  urge  evolved  within  may  show 
towards  anti-social  behavior  is  nowhere  better  demon- 
strated than  by  these  foreseeable  unpleasurable  re- 
sults, sometimes  oft  repeated.  From  our  many  cases 
where  this  comes  out  clearly  I  have  selected  for  citation 
here  three  examples,  one  of  which  is  an  instance  of 
intermittent  vagrancy.  (Further  illustrations  of  this 
topic  are  Cases  6,  10,  14,  17,  and  21.)  Some  of  these 
exhibit  behavior  reactions  which  in  present-day  ter- 
minology might  be  designated  as  nomadism} 

Case  33.  We  have  known  this  boy,  who  began  giving 
an  immense  amount  of  trouble  at  a  very  early  age, 
during  a  period  of  seven  years.  Not  until  after  several 
years  did  we  feel  persuaded  that  we  really  knew  the 
main  cause  of  his  delinquent  tendencies.  It  was  easy 
enough  in  this  instance  to  blame  other  factors,  be- 
cause with  superficial  knowledge  of  his  background  in 
heredity  and  environment  these  appeared  distinctly. 

'  The  term  Wanderlust  is  too  loosely  used  to  be  of  value  in  our  discussion. 

275 


276  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

Deeper  consideration  and  more  thorough  knowledge, 
however,  revealed  mental  conflict  as  the  main  cause. 

Emil  v.,  born  in  Vienna,  was  brought  to  this  country 
when  he  was  six  years  of  age.  On  the  eighth  day  here, 
in  this  strange  city  of  Chicago,  Emil  ran  away  for  the 
first  time.  Up  to  the  present,  it  would  be  difficult  to 
enumerate  how  many  times  Emil  has  taken  to  flight. 
We  do  not  pretend  to  have  a  complete  story  of  his 
escapades.  At  nine  years  he  had  already  been  to  the 
truant's  detention  school  for  two  periods.  Between 
the  July  when  we  first  saw  him  and  the  previous  April, 
when  he  had  last  been  released  from  this  school,  he 
had  run  away  from  home  fifteen  times  by  actual  count. 
On  one  occasion  he  had  remained  away  for  a  week, 
sleeping  principally  in  parks.  His  stepfather  lost  two 
positions  on  account  of  looking  for  him.  Once  Emil 
got  away  by  jumping  down  eight  feet  out  of  a  window 
at  home.  Before  leaving  on  several  occasions  he  had 
taken  a  little  money  from  home;  he  had  stolen  his 
baby  brother's  bank.  Emil  was  known  as  a  great 
liar.  It  became  plain  to  us,  however,  that  his  false- 
hoods were  merely  attempts  to  evade  punishment  for 
his  delinquencies.  We  ourselves  visited  his  home  at 
this  time  and  found  a  neat  little  mother  who  gave  us  an 
intelligent  history  of  the  case,  a  clean  home,  and  a  step- 
father who  had  a  more  reasonable  attitude  toward  the 
boy  than  the  mother  herself. 

Following  our  first  study,  Emil  was  placed  in  a 
country  home  where  he  enjoyed  himself,  and  from  which 
he  did  not  run  away.  Unfortunately,  although  the 
people  had  become  attached  to  him,  they  had  to  break 
up  their  housekeeping  arrangements  and  Emil  was  sent 
home. 


RESULTING  IN  RUNNING  AWAY      277 

When  he  came  back  to  town,  Emil  began  running 
away  again,  sleeping  in  sheds,  sometimes  getting  as 
far  as  the  suburbs,  occasionally  stealing  money  for 
expenses.  He  attempted  to  board  a  train  for  the 
country  town  where  he  had  been  happy.  He  was 
then  tried  in  a  home  for  children  in  a  suburb.  From 
there  he  did  not  run  away,  but  his  parents  being  unable 
or  unwilling  to  pay  anything  at  all  for  him,  he  was 
taken  home  again. 

Ten  months  later  his  mother  appeared,  again  dis- 
tracted. There  had  been  one  trouble  after  another 
with  Emil.  He  had  run  away  many  times ;  he  had 
taken  small  sums.  His  mother  had  found,  through 
advertising,  a  place  in  the  country  for  him,  which 
proved  a  failure,  although  while  there  four  months  the 
boy  had  not  run  away.  However,  he  had  done  many 
sneaking  things,  even  at  this  place,  and  had  tried  to 
get  hold  of  small  sums  on  every  possible  occasion.  There 
had  been  much  complaint  of  him.  The  woman  out 
there  said  he  was  the  greatest  criminal  for  his  age  she 
had  ever  heard  of,  and  she  was  really  much  afraid  of 
him.  He  had  been  taken  away  from  her  place  at  her 
request.  Then  he  reappeared  one  terrifically  stormy 
night  at  her  home,  thoroughly  drenched  and  worn  out, 
having  walked  all  the  way  out  and  suffered  much  in 
consequence.  The  fact  of  his  having  shown  so  much 
desperate  will  power  seems  to  have  frightened  her 
more  than  anything  else.  Once  more  he  was  taken 
home,  but  we  heard  ourselves  that  at  a  still  later  date 
he  had  been  hanging  about  this  country  town  again, 
perhaps  seeking  a  chance  of  getting  another  home 
in  which  to  remain.  The  boy  at  this  period  was 
still  only  ten  years  old,  and  it  is  to  be  noted  that 
his  own  home  was    not   then  a  particularly  bad  sort 


278  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

of  place;  indeed,  the  boy  said  himself  that  it  was 
"all  right." 

Then  Emil  was  sent  to  an  industrial  school  for  boys. 
He  remained  there  sixteen  months  and  had  a  good 
record.  He  was  considered  an  exceedingly  sweet  and 
polite  boy.  He  seemed  happy  and  never  ran  away, 
although  he  had  constant  opportunity  to  do  so.  Then 
he  was  returned  home  and  after  a  short  time  began  his 
flights  again.  After  a  few  weeks  of  this,  he  was  again 
returned  to  the  industrial  school  and  remained  there  a 
year,  and  again  had  a  good  record.  He  came  home 
now,  being  almost  fourteen  years  of  age,  and,  finding 
his  people  in  a  state  of  poverty,  he  did  well  in  helping 
take  care  of  the  two  younger  children  and  worked  at 
odd  jobs  until  he  was  old  enough  to  get  his  working 
certificate  at  fourteen.  He  then  proved  himself  efiicient 
as  a  messenger  boy  for  over  three  months,  being  dis- 
charged because  of  some  boyish  altercation.  He  im- 
mediately, and  without  any  other  reason,  took  flight 
again,  being  picked  up  by  the  police  as  a  vagrant  while 
wandering  through  a  town  some  twenty  miles  distant. 
On  returning  home,  he  worked  again  until  there  arose 
some  trouble  with  his  mother,  who  by  this  time  has 
grown  peculiarly  irritable.  He  took  his  week's  wages 
and  stayed  in  cheap  lodging  houses  for  a  few  days 
until  it  was  all  spent,  and  then  hung  about  a  police 
station  waiting  to  be  taken  in  as  a  runaway  boy. 

Our  study  of  Emil  at  this  time  seems  to  bring  out 
clearly  some  points  which  had  been  sub  judice  pre- 
viously. In  explanation  of  his  most  peculiar  delin- 
quencies, which  involved  considerable  suffering  on  his 
part,  we  had  at  first  considered  the  possibility  of  hered- 
itary traits  breaking  out  in  him.  (We  heard  early 
that  the  father  was  a  bad  character.)     Certainly  some- 


RESULTING   IN  RUNNING  AWAY      279 

thing  was  vigorously  at  work  within  him  making  for  a 
delinquent  career.  Then  we  considered  the  home 
situation  itself,  although  on  the  surface  it  seemed  fair 
enough.  There  was  early  complaint  on  the  part  of 
Emil  about  his  home  treatment ;  we  ourselves  never 
felt  satisfied  that  there  was  sympathetic  appreciation 
of  his  needs.  We  considered  home  conditions  certainly 
a  factor  in  the  case,  perhaps  more  of  a  factor  later  than 
earlier.  In  our  first  summary  of  the  causative  factors 
we  dictated  that  "although  we  have  not  succeeded  in 
getting  much  that  bears  on  the  question,  still  it  may 
possibly  be  that  the  boy  continually  has  rankling  in  his 
own  breast  the  problem  of  his  parentage."  The  step- 
father himself  suggested  this,  without  any  recognition 
of  its  deep  significance. 

Physically  we  found  Emil  at  first  to  be  in  poor  general 
conditions.  He  was  anemic ;  at  nine  years  of  age  he 
weighed  only  fifty-three  pounds ;  his  poorly  developed 
chest  showed  remains  of  a  rachitic  rosary  ;  his  teeth  were 
in  very  poor  condition ;  he  was  then  a  biter  of  his  finger 
nails,  as  he  has  remained  since.  He  showed  no  sen- 
sory defect,  and  his  reflexes  and  other  nerve  findings 
have  been  normal,  with  the  exception  of  over-action 
of  the  facial  muscles  when  he  was  younger.  Examined 
at  fifteen  years  of  age  we  found  he  weighed  only  one 
hundred  pounds,  although  he  showed  many  points  of 
gain  through  the  healthy  life  which  he  has  led  in  the 
country  for  many  months. 

Since  the  time  seven  years  ago,  when  it  was  suggested 
to  us  by  his  people  that  this  boy  was  not  normal,  we 
have  had  the  opportunity  of  testing  his  mentality 
many  times.  We  found  him  always  eager  and  inter- 
ested in  doing  the  tasks  we  set  before  him.  On  account 
of  his  truancy  he  was  somewhat  backward  in  school 


280  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

work,  but  on  a  wide  range  of  tests  calculated  to  evalu- 
ate his  mental  abilities,  he  did  so  well  that  we  were 
persuaded  that  the  only  diagnosis  could  be  that  he  had 
fair  mental  powers.  This  diagnosis  has  been  corrob- 
orated by  the  observations  and  testings  of  a  number  of 
people.  The  boy  now  grades  perhaps  somewhat  below 
his  years  and  has  not  profited  by  all  of  his  opportunities 
in  school.  He  writes  a  rather  childish  hand  and  mis- 
spells many  words ;  he  finds  it  difficult  to  concentrate 
when  given  more  arduous  tasks,  but  his  perceptions 
and  apperceptions  and  memory  processes  are  suffi- 
ciently good,  and  in  nothing  does  he  show  evidences 
of  mental  aberration.  He  is  still  a  childish  boy ;  he  is 
lacking  on  the  side  of  mental  interests,  which,  however, 
may  never  have  been  presented  to  him  in  a  stimulating 
way. 

The  developmental  history  of  Emil  is  comparatively 
uneventful.  The  mother  was  under  a  certain  amount 
of  stress  during  the  pregnancy  on  account  of  being 
unmarried,  but  the  situation  seems  not  to  have  been 
taken  very  hard.  The  boy  suffered  almost  no  illnesses 
during  his  early  childhood,  although  we  find  evidences 
now  of  poor  nutritional  conditions.  He  was  brought 
up  away  from  the  mother  during  all  of  his  early  years. 
The  things  which  we  found  wrong  with  him  might  have 
been  due  to  early  malnutrition,  poor  hygiene,  and  to 
his  over-use  of  coffee,  but  as  I  stated  above,  his  physical 
conditions  have  steadily  tended  to  become  better. 

Heredity  is  another  matter.  The  boy's  father  is  said 
to  have  been  a  bad  sort  of  a  man,  alcoholic,  a  spend- 
thrift, and  a  fighter,  who  came  from  a  fairly  good 
family.  Emil's  mother  states  that  she  refused  to 
marry  him  after  her  condition  became  known.  Con- 
ception took  place  at  a  forest  party,  when  both  were 


RESULTING   IN  RUNNING   AWAY       281 

probably  more  or  less  under  the  influence  of  alcohol. 
On  the  mother's  side  also  there  are  some  unfortunate 
traits.  Her  mother  was  a  deserter  of  her  large  family 
and  a  quarrelsome  woman,  who  remarried  a  couple 
of  times  and  became  somewhat  notorious  in  her  later 
years  on  account  of  her  marriage  to  a  criminal.  The 
step-siblings  of  Emil  are  quite  normal  children. 

Any  good  account  of  Emil's  home  life  must  include 
the  story  of  his  mother's  peculiarities.  Until  he  was 
six  years  of  age  the  boy  was  brought  up  by  estimable 
people  to  whom  his  mother  paid  part  of  her  earnings. 
He  loved  them,  and  they  loved  him,  and  there  was 
absolutely  no  trouble  on  account  of  bad  behavior.  He 
saw  his  mother  at  such  rare  intervals  that  he  can  only 
nowadays  remember  that  he  saw  her  a  couple  of  times 
in  the  old  country.  Suddenly,  when  he  was  six  years 
of  age,  she  appeared  on  the  scene  and  at  once  brought 
him  with  her  to  America.  He  had  lived  a  pleasant 
life  in  Vienna,  with  a  chance  to  play  in  pretty,  open 
places.  In  Chicago  he  was  set  down  in  a  crowded  and 
poor  part  of  town,  and  through  his  mother  living  with 
the  grandmother,  who  had  been  here  for  years,  quarrel- 
ing began.  In  a  few  weeks  the  mother  married  a  very 
decent  young  fellow  who  had  known  her  in  Vienna. 

Always  since  then  there  has  been  more  or  less  trouble 
at  home  on  account  of  the  comparatively  poor  earning 
capacity  of  the  husband  and  the  bad  temper  of  his  wife. 
At  times  she  has  been  pleasant,  but  she  has  attempted  to 
manage  her  household  with  a  shrewish  tongue  and  the 
laying  on  of  hands ;  all  this  she  has  distributed  fairly 
between  her  husband,  her  children  by  him,  and  her 
first  son.  Emil  cares  much  more  for  his  stepfather 
than  he  does  for  his  own  mother,  on  account  of  her 
quarrelsomeness. 


282  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

Far  more  significant  than  anything  else  is  the  history 
of  Emil's  mental  experiences.  Although  always  a 
remarkably  pleasant  and  polite  boy  —  "a  child  of 
sunshine"  as  he  was  called  by  an  enthusiastic  woman 
in  the  country,  we  got  little  from  him  about  his 
inner  life  during  the  first  year  or  two  we  knew  him. 
Perhaps  the  fault  was  ours,  inasmuch  as  we  were  not 
then  so  alive  to  the  existence  of  mental  conflicts.  Later 
we  have  extended  our  knowledge  of  him  through  his 
confidences  and  through  the  many  reports  we  have 
received  of  him  from  his  family  and  others.  The 
stepfather  always  thought  Emil  peculiar  from  the 
moment  after  his  own  marriage  when  he  told  the  boy 
to  call  him  "father."  Emil  quickly  looked  him  in  the 
face,  burst  out  laughing,  and  turned  away. 

Recounting  his  own  worries  of  that  period  it  is  re- 
vealed in  Emil's  more  recent  interviews  with  us  that  his 
relationships  to  others  were  a  great  puzzle  to  him  from 
the  time  when  his  mother  brought  him  away.  He  has 
always  insisted  that  he  loved  the  T.'s,  with  whom  he 
lived  in  Vienna.  He  called  them  mother  and  father. 
They  were  kind  to  him.  "They  cried  when  I  left.  I 
didn't  want  to  come.  Things  seemed  strange  to  me. 
I  didn't  know  my  mother.  In  those  days  the  only 
thing  I  wondered  about  was  about  my  father.  I've 
asked  her  sometimes  since  then  about  him.  She  never 
told  me  what  my  father's  name  was;  she  said  it  was 
none  of  my  business.  I  always  worried  about  my 
father.  I  don't  know  anything  about  him.  I  don't 
worry  now  any  more.  My  stepfather  said  he  would 
tell  me  all  about  my  life  when  I  grew  bigger.  ...  I 
used  to  think  a  good  deal  about  it.  I  always  used  to 
wish  I  knew.  I  wondered  if  my  mother  was  my  real 
mother." 


RESULTING  IN  RUNNING  AWAY      283 

It  is  now  nine  years  since  Emil  was  brought  to  Chi- 
cago, but  his  mind  still  reverts  to  Vienna:  "When  I 
was  there  I  played  out  in  the  open.  I  always  liked  it 
out  of  doors.  I  always  wanted  to  get  out  more  when 
I  first  came  here.  I  wouldn't  mind  if  I  was  back  there 
now.  I  like  it  out  in  the  country.  I'd  like  now  to  drive 
and  run  around.  Out  in  the  country  you're  out  in  the 
fields  all  the  time,  not  in  the  house.  It  was  closed  in 
when  I  first  came." 

One  of  the  first  statements  this  boy  ever  made  to  us 
was  concerned  with  his  desire  to  be  out  in  the  open. 
His  early  running  away  began  in  the  summer  time, 
when  he  first  slept  in  some  sheds ;  later,  when  his 
people  moved  nearer  a  park,  he  used  to  sleep  out  of 
doors  a  great  deal.  He  said  he  liked  the  air  in  the  park, 
liked  to  get  up  at  five  o'clock  in  the  morning.  He 
used  to  subsist  on  the  few  pennies  which  he  had  some- 
times taken  before  he  went,  or  on  what  he  could  beg 
from  bakeshops  or  picnickers.  In  those  days  he  asked 
to  go  on  a  farm  because  then  he  could  be  in  the  "open 
country."  Although  he  described  his  excursions  to 
us  then  he  always  stated  that  he  didn't  know  why  he 
ran  away. 

The  upshot  of  this  whole  case,  as  it  has  become  clear 
through  our  more  recent  studies  of  it,  is  that  this  boy 
had  a  most  terrific  mental  conflict  in  his  earlier  years, 
the  elements  of  which  he  was  forced  to  repress  through 
the  unreasonableness  of  his  mother.  His  emotions 
centered  about  the  puzzle  of  his  parentage.  Just  the 
association  of  running  away  with  the  repressed  elements 
does  not  stand  out  clearly,  but  we  may  be  allowed  to 
surmise  that  possibly  the  flight  of  his  mother  with  him 
from  the  old  country  may  have  brought  the  idea  to  his 
mind.     Certainly,   some  suggestion  there  must   have 


284  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

been  to  have  started  his  flights  on  the  eighth  day 
after  he  arrived  in  a  strange  city. 

Emil's  phrasing  of  his  own  troubles  at  home  have, 
until  recently,  been  vague,  and  he  was  inclined  to 
exaggerate  his  mother's  behavior.  We  have  intimated 
above  that  the  boy  early  lied  to  us,  translating  her 
scoldings  and  occasional  slaps  into  actual  beatings. 
When  cornered,  however,  he  always  would  say  that 
he  was  only  punished  when  he  was  bad.  About  his 
own  inner  mental  states,  he  told  us  a  couple  of  years 
ago,  once  when  he  had  been  picked  up  as  a  runaway : 
"I  didn't  feel  as  if  things  were  right  at  home."  At  our 
first  interviews  he  used  to  say  that  he  liked  his  mother 
and  stepfather,  and  that  he  didn't  know  why  he  would 
not  stay  at  home.  As  he  looks  back  nowadays  on  those 
earlier  years,  he  tells  us  plainly  that  he  then  was  always 
worried  about  his  parentage. 

Any  one  might  naturally  ask  why  this  boy  still 
occasionally  runs  away  for  other  reasons  than  mental 
conflict  about  his  father.  On  the  last  two  occasions 
he  has  taken  flight  after  either  leaving  or  losing  the 
position  which  he  held,  and  once  after  spending  his 
wages.  In  explanation,  we  may  remember  that  home 
conditions,  with  regard  to  quarreling,  are  no  better, 
and  that  the  boy  has  a  good  deal  of  dissatisfaction  on 
account  of  this  and  because  of  the  idea  which  he  still 
holds,  that  life  in  Vienna  would  be  much  pleasanter, 
and  that  he  would  like  to  have  all  the  facts  of  his 
parentage  cleared  up.  But  I  am  inclined  to  believe 
that  here,  as  in  many  other  cases,  a  habit  of  delinquency 
has  been  formed.  He  early  developed  the  conception 
of  flight  as  a  way  out  of  unpleasantness  and  difficulty. 
It  relieved  the  immediate  situation  in  some  way,  even 
though  it  led  to  considerable  suffering  on  his  part. 


RESULTING   IN   RUNNING  AWAY      285 

The  idea  of  running  away  still  recurs  to  him  when  he  is 
in  trouble,  and  he  has  twice  in  the  last  year  given  way 
to  the  impulse.  We  have  often  found  evidences  that 
a  type  of  conduct  was  persisted  in  even  after  the  original 
cause  was  removed,  largely  as  the  result  of  the  forma- 
tion of  an  habitual  reaction. 

(To  bring  this  history  up  to  date,  we  may  state  that 
Emil  was  once  more  placed  in  a  good  farm  home  where 
he  was  very  happy  and  from  which  he  did  not  run  away 
for  several  months.  Then  his  parents  separated,  his 
mother  finally  following  his  stepfather,  who  had  taken 
the  other  children  to  a  new  residence,  a  thousand  miles 
west.  Emil  heard  of  this  after  a  time,  and  again  sud- 
denly took  flight.     He  has  not  been  heard  of  since.) 

Case  34.  A  strong  impulse  to  vagrancy  on  the  basis 
of  mental  conflict  is  illustrated  here.  The  origin  of  the 
conflict  is  clearly  shown. 

The  mother  of  Chester  N.,  an  intelligent  woman, 
stated  to  us  that  Chester  got  along  very  well  in  every 
way  till  he  was  fourteen  years  old.  During  the  two 
years  since  there  had  been  an  immense  amount  of 
trouble  with  him.  It  began  with  truancy  and  staying 
away  from  home  all  night.  He  withdrew  from  school 
at  fourteen,  but  has  held  no  job  for  long.  If  he  works 
for  a  week  he  goes  off  with  his  pay.  He  stays  away  a 
week  or  more  at  a  time,  sleeping  under  sidewalks  or 
in  parks.  The  police  have  taken  him  up  for  vagrancy. 
He  has  frequently  helped  himself  to  small  amounts 
of  money  at  home,  but  he  can  hardly  be  said  to  have 
shown  much  tendency  to  stealing.  Altogether  he  has 
run  away  many  times. 

In  disposition  Chester  seems  rather  sullen  at  home ; 
he  likes  to  be  by  himself  or  to  play  with  small  children. 


286  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

He  always  talks  sensibly ;  he  finished  the  seventh 
grade  and  plays  the  piano  well.  He  is  fond  of  moving 
picture  shows.  So  far  as  the  family  knows,  Chester 
always  goes  alone,  both  to  the  picture  shows  and  when 
he  wanders  away.  The  mother  knows  nothing  of  his 
associating  with  bad  boys,  now  or  formerly. 

The  family  history  seems  quite  negative  in  respect 
to  this  boy's  tendencies.  He  comes  from  strong, 
healthy  stock,  where  neither  mental  ailments  nor 
nomadism  figures.  Chester  passed  through  a  rather 
sickly  infancy,  but  no  nervous  troubles  developed  at 
any  time.  He  walked  and  talked  as  early  as  the  other 
four  children,  all  of  whom  are  normal.  He  finished 
seven  grades  in  six  years,  having  begun  school  rather 
late. 

We  found  a  well-developed  boy  on  the  physical  side, 
without  sensory  defect.  Mental  tests  showed  him  to 
be  quite  bright,  without  peculiarity  in  any  direction. 
We  particularly  noticed  that  tests  for  mental  control 
were  done  fairly  well.  But  Chester  evidently  regards 
himself  as  somewhat  of  a  weakling;  he  seems  to  lack 
self-assertiveness,  although  he  is  not  without  con- 
fidence in  his  mental  powers.  Beyond  this  we  found 
him  a  talkative  lad,  anxious,  upon  sympathetic  in- 
quiry, to  go  into  all  the  details  of  what  led  to  his 
tendencies. 

The  essence  of  the  analysis  of  Chester's  troubles  can 
be  told  largely  in  his  own  words  :  "I  have  temptations, 
temptations  to  steal  and  temptations  about  those  bad 
habits.  I  don't  give  way  to  them,  but  those  things  are 
in  my  mind.  How  can  you  help  it ;  it's  all  you  hear 
about  down  our  way ;  every  word  they  say  is  a  dirty 
one.  It  used  to  put  me  all  upset.  I  never  can  get  over 
Dickson.     It's  like  a  picture  of  him  comes  in  my  mind. 


RESULTING   IN   RUNNING   AWAY      287 

.  .  .  Dickson  used  to  be  away  from  home  about  four 
days  a  week.  His  mother  didn't  care  if  he  went  off ; 
she  went  off  herself." 

The  story  of  Chester's  environment  and  companion- 
ship inckided  much  that  is  important  for  understanding 
his  case.  When  they  hved  on  another  street,  about 
four  years  earlier,  he  was  first  taught  to  steal  by  Dick- 
son. He  remembers  a  half  dollar  that  they  took  from 
a  grocery  store ;  Chester  paid  that  back.  Then  there 
was  another  extremely  bad  boy  there  whom  he  came 
to  know.  (It  curiously  happens  that  we  ourselves 
were  acquainted  with  both  these  other  boys  as  delin- 
quents.) The  stealing  would  not  have  been  so  bad 
if  these  boys  had  not  told  him  other  things.  They 
used  dirty  words.  "I'd  come  up  there,  and  they'd  talk 
about  girls ;  that's  one  thing  I  didn't  like  to  hear.  I 
never  said  a  bad  word  to  my  mother  or  father  in  my 
life.  They'd  talk  about  it  all  the  time  till  it  got  on 
my  nerves.  I  got  to  wondering  if  it  was  true.  I  didn't 
believe  it,  but  they'd  talk  about  it  till  I'd  get  all  ex- 
cited." 

This  other  boy,  Dickson,  was  the  first  one  who  told 
him  "about  girls."  Yes,  and  he  was  the  first  who  told 
him  about  stealing,  too.  "I  was  ten  or  eleven  then. 
They'd  go  out  to  meet  the  girls,  but  I  wouldn't  go 
along."  To  our  inquiry  if  he  had  seen  pictures  that 
bothered  him,  he  replied  that  he  had.  "One  kid 
down  that  way  has  a  book,  and  there  ain't  a  good  thing 
in  it.  .  .  .  I  keep  thinking  how  can  that  be  true,  the 
things  that  the  picture  shows." 

The  former  acquaintance,  Dickson,  he  has  not  seen 
for  a  long  while,  but  he  thinks  of  him  and  of  his  talk 
about  girls.  Particularly  when  he  gets  his  pay,  it 
comes  up  in  his  mind  about  "Dickson  with  the  money, 


288  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

running  away."  Chester  considers  that  steahng  is  not 
right,  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  he  has  sometimes  later 
paid  back  to  his  mother  money  which  he  has  stolen 
from  her  when  he  was  going  away.  He  has  not  stolen 
from  others,  except  that  this  last  time  he  took  four  or 
five  dollars  from  a  woman  next  door  to  use  as  a  start 
to  make  his  own  way  in  the  world.  He  did  not  much 
mind  taking  it  from  her,  because  she  has  a  grudge 
against  him  and  frequently  has  said  to  his  mother, 
"Why  don't  you  put  that  kid  away.^*     He's  crazy." 

The  neighbors  think  he  is  queer,  he  says,  because  he 
plays  with  the  little  children.  The  reason  for  this  is 
that  all  of  the  boys  over  eight  or  ten  years  old  around 
there  are  bad;  they  do  daylight  robberies;  some  of 
them  have  been  arrested  and  sent  away.  Chester 
does  not  want  to  do  these  things ;  he  wants  to  stay 
good  and  keep  away  from  the  bad  boys. 

With  the  exception  of  this  last  adventure,  Chester 
has  not  run  away  for  a  long  time  with  money  other 
than  his  own.  He  takes  his  pay  and  stays  away  from 
home. 

He  makes  much  to  us  of  the  sex  affairs  that  the  boys 
showed  him  and  of  how  he  was  affected  thereby.  "They 
have  bad  habits  ...  I  would  never  do  that.  I  don't 
get  in  any  bad  habits  that  will  spoil  my  health.  I've 
seen  good  Irish  kids  in  our  neighborhood  that  were 
good  when  they  came  get  into  that.  They  ain't  good 
no  more."  At  another  time  he  told  us  of  his  curiosity. 
"Once,  when  I  said  I  didn't  believe  it,  they  said,  '  We'll 
show  you  if  it's  true,'  and  I  wanted  to  know  and  went 
with  them.     The  sight  of  it  sickened  me." 

There  is  no  doubt  of  Chester's  good  behavior  ordina- 
rily at  home ;  when  his  mother  was  in  the  hospital,  he 
even  did  the  washing.     He  never  talked  to  his  father 


RESULTING   IN   RUNNING   AWAY      289 

about  his  troubles;  he  was  afraid  to  do  so.  Earlier 
he  thought  his  father  would  get  after  Dickson,  and 
Dickson  in  turn  would  get  after  Chester.  Then  he 
put  off  telling  about  the  affair. 

(The  several  months  that  have  elapsed  without 
further  complaint  of  Chester's  behavior  are  not  enough 
to  warrant  us  in  declaring  Chester  cured  of  running 
away  as  yet.) 

Case  35.  In  this  instance  the  genesis  of  the  impulse 
to  run  away  was  unmistakably  traced. 

Philip  R.,  just  ten  years  of  age,  has  been  running 
away  from  home  for  two  years.  This,  with  the  truancy 
which  it  entailed,  was  his  sole  delinquency.  He  has 
gone  away  many  times,  usually  staying  about  a  couple 
of  days  and  nights,  sleeping  in  hallways,  parks,  or 
peddlers'  wagons.  Philip  always  goes  alone.  He  has 
been  taken  by  the  police  at  least  six  times,  always 
somewhere  in  the  city. 

In  other  ways  Philip  enjoys  an  enviable  reputation. 
He  is  said  by  both  his  parents  to  be  unusually  kind  and 
helpful  at  home,  willing  to  scrub,  wash  the  dishes,  or 
to  take  care  of  the  younger  children.  He  is  also  very 
generous;  given  a  nickel,  he  takes  only  a  penny  for 
himself,  giving  the  rest  to  the  others.  In  school  he 
has,  naturally,  not  advanced  rapidly,  but  is  in  the  fourth 
grade. 

Developmental  history  brings  out  nothing  of  im- 
portance, except  that  he  has  been  free  from  severe 
illnesses  and  walked,  talked,  etc.,  at  the  normal  age. 
Inquiry  into  the  family  history  elicited  no  abnormality 
on  either  side. 

Our  examination  showed  a  normally  developed  little 
lad  with  no  sensory  defect  or  physical  trouble  of  any 


290  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

sort.  Tonsils  and  adenoids  had  been  removed  at 
seven  years.  On  mental  tests  he  graded  above  age 
by  Binet ;  on  other  types  of  tests  he  did  exceedingly 
well  for  his  years. 

A  summary  of  what  we  discovered  by  analysis  is  as 
follows :  Philip  began  his  running  away  as  the  direct 
result  of  an  experience  which  his  parents  knew  nothing 
about.  A  group  of  much  older  boys  ran  away  to  an- 
other city,  while  there  being  arrested  for  robbery.  As 
Philip  blurted  out  to  us  in  the  midst  of  conversation 
about  another  point,  "The  first  time  I  ran  away  ;  that's 
how  I  started  it.  They  told  me  about  their  running 
away  and  how  fine  it  all  was,  and  I  got  it  in  my  mind. 
.  .  .  They  started  me  when  I  was  eight  years  old 
running  away.  .  .  .  They  talk  about  girls ;  they  say 
lots  of  dirty  things  ;  they  don't  say  anything  nice.  .  .  . 
I  dream  about  what  they  do  to  other  kids.  ...  It  is 
these  boys  who  ran  away.  ...  It  is  these  things  I 
think  about.  .  .  .  They  don't  live  there  any  more, 
but  I  think  about  it  and  what  they  did  to  Frank ;  he 
lives  next  door.  .  .  .  They  begged  me  to  go  robbing, 
but  I  never  did." 

Discussion  of  the  facts  with  the  mother  and  in  more 
detail  with  Philip  showed  the  probable  truth  of  what 
he  said.  Two  older  boys  were  notorious  in  the  neigh- 
borhood for  stealing,  and  they  did  engage  in  the  esca- 
pade which  the  boy  described.  The  mother,  however, 
knew  nothing  of  their  introducing  her  little  lad  to  sex 
affairs  in  such  flagrant  fashion.  It  was  soon  after  they 
came  back  that  he  started  running  away  alone.  He 
has  never  to  her  knowledge  stolen  or  been  in  bad  habits 
or  used  bad  language  of  any  kind.  Her  statement  on 
these  points  was  all  the  more  interesting  because  it 
was  she  who  made  the  complaints. 


RESULTING   IN   RUNNING   AWAY       291 

A  fact  of  no  small  interest  in  this  case  is  that  our 
first  study  of  Philip,  undertaken  in  somewhat  routine 
fashion,  merely  asking  for  causes  and  trying  to  get  the 
boy  to  talk  out  his  troubles,  was  a  failure.  He  was  a 
pathetic  figure  under  detention  then,  crying  much  and 
lying  much  in  self-defense.  He  wanted  to  go  home,  he 
said,  and  do  better,  but  we  obtained  no  good  under- 
standing of  his  case.  His  parents  made  extra  efforts 
after  this  time  to  make  home  attractive,  but  after  a  few 
weeks,  Philip  relapsed  and  ran  away  again  on  two  occa- 
sions. The  last  time  he  was  again  taken  by  the  police, 
and  now  more  prolonged  efforts  on  our  part  were  re- 
warded by  getting  at  the  fact  and  essentials  of  his 
mental  conflict  as  given  above.  His  parents  again 
were  willing  to  do  all  that  they  could,  and  it  remains 
to  be  seen  how  well,  with  their  limited  resources,  they 
can  succeed.  Our  own  advice  was  for  them  to  go  care- 
fully into  all  details  of  his  connection  with  this  group 
of  boys  and  also  for  them  to  move  to  an  entirely  dif- 
ferent neighborhood,  where  suggestions  of  the  old  kind 
would  not  be  so  likely  to  arise. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

CONFLICTS  RESULTING  IN  OTHER  DELIN- 
QUENCIES 

From  among  the  other  kinds  of  misconduct  we  have 
observed  following  upon  mental  conflicts,  the  following 
cases  offer  a  fair  variety.  They  illustrate  homicidal 
attempt,  extreme  bad  temper  and  violence,  extreme 
willfulness,  destructiveness  and  disobedience,  malicious 
cruelty  and  sadism.  The  favorable  outcome  in  some 
of  these  cases  deserves  earnest  consideration. 

Case  36.  The  interest  in  this  case  centers  on  the 
fact  that  a  desperately  criminal  attempt  at  taking  life 
developed  directly  upon  a  basis  of  mental  conflict. 
The  inmost  depths  of  the  mental  trouble  were  never 
known  and  the  needs  of  the  delinquent  were  never  met 
under  home  conditions. 

Octave  M,,  a  well-mannered  and  rather  good  looking 
quadroon  girl  of  about  fifteen,  was  held  for  attempting 
to  poison  her  family.  She  had  mixed  Paris  green  with 
some  apple  sauce  which  was  ready  for  the  table.  For- 
tunately, her  mother  had  detected  the  unnatural  color 
in  time  to  prevent  disaster. 

The  intelligent  and  affectionate  mother  was  con- 
cerned not  only  about  this  particularly  vicious  offense, 
but  also  about  the  welfare  of  the  younger  children. 

292 


OTHER  DELINQUENCIES  RESULTING     293 

She  felt  that  Octave  was  having  a  bad  influence  at 
home.  The  girl  had  been  going  about  for  several 
months  with  an  older  girl  of  poor  reputation,  and  to 
this  the  mother  attributed  much  of  the  trouble.  The 
matter  of  her  conduct  in  general  needed  thorough  look- 
ing into,  the  mother  told  us. 

We  found  Octave  in  good  general  physical  condition 
and  well  developed.  With  the  exception  of  slight  signs 
of  anemia  and  some  complaint  of  headaches,  we  found 
nothing  whatever  wrong.  She  had  menstruated  early, 
at  twelve  years.  There  had  been  a  former  diagnosis 
of  recurrent  appendicitis,  but  no  symptoms  had  been 
complained  of  for  some  time. 

Mentally  the  girl  proved  herself  to  be  of  quite  normal 
ability.  She  had  attained  the  sixth  grade  in  spite 
of  being  away  from  school  a  great  deal,  taking  care  of 
the  children  on  the  days  when  her  mother  went  out 
to  work.  There  had  been  no  complaints  of  any  kind 
from  school.  Octave  did  fairly  good  work  on  a  wide 
range  of  tests  given  to  her  at  two  periods,  a  year  apart, 
and  she  serves,  incidentally,  as  an  illustration  of  the 
fallacy  of  mental  testing  when  the  subject  is  under 
emotional  stress.  She  failed  badly  on  one  occasion 
and  then,  when  inquiry  later  was  made  about  this,  she 
said,  "There  is  something  resting  on  my  mind."  A 
day  or  two  afterwards,  when  she  was  feeling  better,  she 
did  very  well  on  the  same  tests.  She  passed  through 
all  the  Binet  series  up  through  twelve  years  and 
made  good  records  on  the  more  difficult  tests.  We  saw 
no  reason  at  any  time  to  consider  her  either  defective 
or  aberrational,  although  this  had  been  suggested. 

The  developmental  history  given  by  the  mother 
proved  negative.  Pregnancy  and  birth  were  normal. 
During  childhood  Octave  had  several  infectious  dis- 


294  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

eases,  but  all  were  light  attacks.  The  most  serious  ill- 
ness she  ever  had  was  a  rather  severe  attack  of  bron- 
chitis. 

The  family  background  was  not  so  favorable.  The 
father  had  been  at  times  a  heavy  drinker  and  did  not 
support  his  family.  The  mother  had  to  work,  but 
within  the  last  year  or  two  the  father  had  been  doing 
much  better  in  every  way.  As  is  frequent  with  colored 
families,  we  got  no  satisfactory  account  of  heredity, 
but  such  facts  as  were  known  were  evidently  negative. 

Octave  proved  very  willing  to  do  what  her  mother 
asked,  namely,  to  go  thoroughly  into  the  matter  of  her 
bad  conduct.  She  appeared  shamefaced,  but  talked 
quite  frankly.  During  the  course  of  our  study  we 
ascertained  the  following  vital  points : 

The  girl  whom  the  mother  had  told  us  about,  Octave 
readily  acknowledged  to  be  bad.  "She  did  a  lot  of 
bad  things  and  taught  me  to  do  them.  She  says  bad 
words.  They  are  so  bad  I  can't  tell  them  to  you. 
She  does  things  with  boys,  too.  Her  mother  works 
out,  and  she  waits  on  the  street  corner  for  the  boys 
and  takes  them  home  with  her.  ...  I  just  can't  keep 
my  mind  on  my  work  any  more.  When  the  teacher 
here  tells  me  something,  I  forget  what  she  has  told  me 
to  do." 

For  a  long  time  Octave  contented  herself  by  con- 
tinually reaffirming  that  she  could  not  remember  what 
it  was  that  came  into  her  head,  but  something  does 
come  which  makes  her  forget  things  and  worries  her 
greatly.  On  reviewing  home  conditions  in  detail. 
Octave  stated  that  her  father  was  always  unkind  to 
her;  that  he  scolded  her  without  cause,  and  that  she 
really  does  not  care  for  him.  Then  more  came  out 
about  her  companion.     This  older  girl  told  Octave  of 


OTHER  DELINQUENCIES  RESULTING     295 

the  money  she  made  through  immoral  practices,  both 
at  home  and  in  hotels,  and  urged  Octave  to  do  like- 
wise. The  other  girl's  mother,  too,  was  probably  im- 
moral. Although  Octave  had  similar  opportunities 
for  indulging,  she  evidently  resisted  all  the  temptations, 
but  insisted  that  she  was  much  disturbed  mentally 
by  the  knowledge  conveyed  to  her,  as  well  as  by  the 
imagery  which  this  called  up  in  her  mind.  Doctor 
Bronner's  opinion,  dictated  at  the  time,  was  that  this 
seemed  to  be  an  innately  clean-minded  girl  who  ap- 
parently wanted  to  remain  good,  but  who  was  much 
afraid  of  her  thoughts. 

Concerning  Octave's  major  delinquency,  we  ob- 
tained some  interesting  information  by  putting  together 
what  we  learned  from  the  girl  and  her  mother.  The 
objective  facts  were  that  on  that  day  there  had  been 
some  quarreling  and  some  abuse  of  the  girl  by  her 
father.  The  mother  noted  that  Octave  seemed  par- 
ticularly provoked,  but  Octave's  own  account  of  the 
affair  included  no  statement  of  this  abuse  by  the  father, 
which  was  usual.  She  dwelt  entirely  upon  what  was 
going  on  in  her  own  head  all  that  afternoon.  "I  had 
been  thinking  about  those  bad  words  for  the  last 
month.  That  afternoon  I  was  standing  on  the  porch 
nearly  all  the  time,  and  I  couldn't  get  those  words 
out  of  my  mind.  I  put  that  stuff  in  the  apple  sauce 
about  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon."  Some  details 
were  gone  into  with  the  mother  and  the  girl  together. 
It  appeared  that  the  father  was  the  one  in  the  family 
particularly  fond  of  apple  sauce  and  would  be  the  only 
one  likely  to  eat  much  of  it  then.  Octave  stated  that 
she  only  intended  to  injure  him  because  he  was  "no 
good  and  was  mean  to  the  family."  However,  she 
had  given  us  no  hint  of  self -justification  previously. 


296  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

Her  own  explanation  had  all  to  do  with  the  subjective 
content  of  her  own  mind  during  that  day,  —  things 
that  she  had  never  mentioned  to  anybody  which  were 
continually  worrying  her.  The  mother  insisted  on  the 
great  penitence  of  the  girl  directly  after  the  poison  was 
found  and  she  was  accused.  There  was  no  attempt 
at  self-denial.  It  seemed  almost  as  if  Octave  then 
awoke  from  some  dreamlike  state  and  only  at  this  time 
first  realized  what  she  had  done. 

The  outcome  of  this  case  with  Octave  living  at 
home,  as  could  have  been  foreseen,  has  been  most  un- 
satisfactory. The  family  moved,  and  it  is  probable 
that  she  saw  no  more  of  her  evil  companion,  but  the 
father  got  to  drinking  again,  and  Octave  alleged,  one 
year  later,  that  he  had  sexually  assaulted  her  and  re- 
peatedly made  attempts.  The  man  was  tried  for  this 
offense.  But  Octave  finally  denied  before  the  jury  all 
that  she  had  alleged  previously  and  accused  another 
man.  All  felt  there  was  considerable  probability  in 
the  truth  of  what  she  had  first  stated,  but  many  things 
had  come  up  to  make  her  retract,  and  the  mother  her- 
self changed  her  earlier  stories  of  her  husband's  mis- 
doings. In  such  cases  there  is  frequently  an  economic 
factor  which  has  to  be  accounted  for  —  if  the  husband 
is  taken  away,  who  will  support  the  children  ?  He  was 
doing  this  properly  just  now.  Octave  at  this  later 
time  made  much  of  the  stress  that  she  had  been  under 
through  not  wishing  to  tell  her  mother  and  yet  ward 
off  her  father.  We  found  that  she  had  become  very 
untruthful ;  her  word  was  not  to  be  relied  upon  in 
many  respects.  All  this  was  a  change  from  her  pre- 
vious character.  She  had  gone  to  a  hospital  and 
alleged  that  she  was  pregnant,  at  the  same  time  com- 
plaining of  her  old  appendicitis  pains.     Later  examina- 


OTHER  DELINQUENCIES  RESULTING    297 

tion  showed  that  she  was  not  pregnant.  It  was  clear 
that  she  had  grown  entirely  beyond  parental  control ; 
that  she  had  been  given  almost  nothing  of  what  she 
needed  in  the  way  of  better  mental  life  following  our 
original  exploration  of  her  troubles.  She  had  to  be 
sent  to  an  institution  for  delinquent  girls. 

It  is  of  no  small  interest  in  this  case  to  note  that 
although  conditions  for  all  of  the  six  children  had  been 
the  same  in  the  family  life,  there  had  been  absolutely 
no  trouble  with  any  of  the  others,  one  of  whom  was 
older.  Another  main  point  is  that  there  had  been 
absolutely  no  delinquency  on  the  part  of  Octave  until 
three  months  prior  to  the  attempted  poisoning.  At 
this  time  the  family  had  moved  into  a  new  neighbor- 
hood and  it  was  then  that  Octave  met  this  older  girl 
and  herself  became  perverse. 

Case  37.  How  extreme  irritability  and  display  of 
violence  mav  be  the  result  of  mental  conflict  is  shown 
in  the  following  short  narration : 

An  unusually  intelligent  relative  brought  to  us  from 
afar  the  problem  of  Ella  T.,  eighteen  years  old.  For 
several  years  Ella  had  been  extremely  quarrelsome  at 
home ;  even  the  neighbors  complained  of  the  disturb- 
ances she  created.  Her  mother  had  been  kicked  and 
poanded  by  her  frequently.  An  older  sister  on  several 
occasions  she  had  actually  beaten.  Once  Ella  pulled 
to  pieces  a  scarf  belonging  to  her  sister,  and  on  another 
occasion  seized  music  that  a  visitor  was  playing  at  the 
piano  and  tore  it  into  bits.  More  than  once  she  had 
thrown  a  drinking  glass  at  a  brother  to  whom  she  was 
formerly  devoted,  and  repeatedly  she  had  tossed  such 
objects  as  scissors  and  lighted  matches  at  her  relatives. 
Some  days  she  was  said  to  appear  thoroughly  quiet 


298  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

and  well  behaved,  but  she  was  always  beyond  the  con- 
trol of  her  mother,  and  between  the  two  there  had 
never  been  full  confidence. 

We  found  a  well-cared-for  young  woman  who  had 
been  recently  thoroughly  investigated  from  a  medical 
standpoint,  with  negative  findings.  Physically  she 
was  attractive  and  well  developed. 

On  the  mental  side  she  showed  herself  intelligent 
and  capable.  She  had  done  well  in  school  whenever 
she  had  pleased  to  exert  herself.  Her  conversation 
was  coherent  and  to  the  point.  She  showed  some 
resentment  and  resistance  at  first,  when  essential 
points  of  her  experience  were  approached,  but  only 
in  a  very  natural  way.  We  found  every  reason  to 
believe  that,  as  her  relatives  stated,  she  was  truthful 
by  nature. 

Brought  to  the  point  of  considering  herself  a  delin- 
quent, Ella  expressed  herself  as  desirous  of  doing  dif- 
ferently and  willing  to  go  into  causes.  At  an  early 
interview  we  learned  of  certain  experiences  that  were 
corroborated  for  us  by  the  family.  It  seems  that  five 
or  six  years  previously  this  young  woman  at  an  Eastern 
girls'  school  of  high  standing  had  become  deeply 
attached  to  another  girl.  This  had  developed  into 
homosexual  relations  which  were  continued  for  long. 
There  had  been  a  quiet  scandal,  and  without  any  com- 
plete exploration  of  the  affair  and  without  any  real 
understanding  on  the  part  of  the  mother,  Ella  had 
been  sent  home.  After  this  she  experienced  a  great 
deal  of  sex  temptation  which  she  kept  absolutely  to 
herself ;  her  attraction  now,  however,  was  to  thoughts 
of  the  opposite  sex.  There  was  a  frequent  turmoil  of 
inner  feeling,  ideation,  and  imagery,  which  she  en- 
deavored to  suppress,   consciously  quite  acceding  to 


OTHER  DELINQUENCIES   RESULTING    299 

the  social  point  of  view,  namely,  that  giving  way  to 
sex  desires  was  wrong.  She  evidently  completely 
downed  voluntary  thoughts  of  her  original  experience 
and  those  earlier  habits.  Any  external  show  of  feelings 
which  assailed  her  was  always  rapidly  and  successfully 
repressed.  Even  her  relatives  said  that  she  was  an 
entirely  modest  girl,  thoroughly  quiet  in  her  attitude 
towards  men. 

With  the  exception  that  the  father  had  been  at 
times  unfortunately  addicted  to  alcohol,  the  family 
history  showed  no  neurotic  tendencies  or  mental  ab- 
normality on  either  side.  The  mother  was  a  woman 
of  fine  temperament.  Ella  herself  had  never  had  a 
physical  ailment  of  importance. 

Putting  it  all  together,  it  seemed  sure  that,  in  the 
main,  here  was  a  girl  of  thoroughly  good  antecedents. 
She  had  a  splendid  physical  background ;  she  had 
ceased,  after  her  first  experiences,  the  bad  sex  habits ; 
she  had  not  developed  any  psychoneurosis.  The  in- 
tense mental  conflict  and  repression  had  found  vent 
in  her  vicious  display  of  violence. 

After  discovery  of  the  essential  facts,  the  relation  of 
cause  to  effect  was  realized  by  all,  and  a  new  regime, 
beginning  with  confidence  between  mother  and  daugh- 
ter, was  instituted.  The  outlook  seemed  good  because 
of  the  intelligence  and  common  sense  of  the  parties 
concerned. 

Case  38.  The  following  instance  of  general  bad 
behavior  arising  very  largely  upon  the  basis  of  mental 
conflict,  can  be  given  in  a  few  words.  It  illustrates 
the  type  of  child  who  is  frequently  misunderstood,  the 
child  whc  is  adjudged  simply  or  willfully  or  "naturally  " 
bad. 


300  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

Andrew  M.,  a  boy  of  twelve  years,  was  brought  to 
us  by  his  vigorous  parents.  He  was  reported  by  them 
and  by  the  school  people  as  being  utterly  disobedient, 
destructive,  and  possessed  of  a  peculiarly  mean  temper. 
The  teachers  simply  would  not  have  him  in  school  on 
account  of  his  bad  behavior ;  they  stated  that  he  was 
bright  when  he  wanted  to  study,  but  most  of  the  time 
engaged  in  malicious  mischief.  He  had  repeatedly 
torn  up  his  school  books.  Recently  he  had  written  a 
letter  to  his  mother  stating  that  he  would  run  away 
from  home,  and  he  had  already  been  truant.  In  spite 
of  much  warning  he  had  persisted  in  going  with  bad 
companions ;  his  parents  believed  that  he  was  an 
accomplice  in  their  stealing,  but  that  he  never  under- 
took anything  of  the  sort  by  himself.  His  misconduct 
had  been  kept  up  for  two  or  three  years,  and  his  people 
were  thoroughly  out  of  patience  with  him.  His  father 
had  whipped  him  a  great  deal  in  the  past,  but  finding 
it  futile,  had  entirely  stopped  these  tactics. 

Physical  examination  showed  a  boy  decidedly  poorly 
developed  for  his  age,  for  he  weighed  only  sixty-seven 
pounds.  Tonsils  and  adenoids  had  been  removed  a 
couple  of  years  previously.  No  sensory  defect.  Bit 
nails  excessively  and  had  been  doing  so  for  long. 
Complained  of  occasional  headaches.  Sometimes  badly 
constipated.  Very  good  features.  Eyes  bright.  Ex- 
pression intelligent. 

The  mental  findings  indicated  that  the  boy  was  un- 
questionably bright  and  intelligent ;  could  do  good 
school  work.  He  passed  well  on  many  kinds  of 
tests;  by  the  Binet  scale  he  graded  slightly  above 
his  age. 

Nothing  in  heredity  or  developmental  history  was 
found  to  have  any   significance  for  us.     Concerning 


OTHER  DELINQUENCIES   RESULTING     301 

environmental  influences,  his  parents  knew  that  when 
he  was  about  eight  years  of  age  he  saw  a  girl  in  a  barn 
"doing  bad  things  with  a  boy."  He  came  and  told 
them  then ;  they  had  thought  nothing  more  about  this 
until  we  questioned  them. 

In  studying  Andrew,  we  found  at  once  that  we  had 
to  deal  with  a  very  frank  and  nice  boy,  who  plunged 
at  once  into  his  own  story  as  follows :  He  volunteered 
that  he  has  been  disobedient  and  bad  in  school,  but 
.  does  not  know  why.  His  parents  are  very  good  to 
him.  He  has  been  going  with  bad  fellows  who  steal 
and  give  him  some  of  the  proceeds.  His  recreations 
are  going  to  nickel  shows  and  playing  with  these  boys. 
His  father  frequently  is  away  from  home  on  business. 
He  really  wants  to  live  at  home ;  he  was  fooling  when 
he  wrote  that  letter.  He  says  he  is  nervous  and  irri- 
table, and  knows  he  has  a  bad  temper ;  for  instance, 
when  he  tries  to  tie  his  necktie  and  it  does  not  go  well, 
he  just  has  to  say  a  lot  of  bad  words. 

Very  interestingly  Andrew  tells  us  at  some  length 
how  he  fights  against  certain  thoughts.  He  finally 
narrates  in  detail  just  what  these  are;  they  are  what 
the  boys  told  him  long  ago,  or  at  least  what  he  heard 
them  say,  about  bad  sex  affairs.  They  did  not  directly 
tell  him,  but  he  has  wondered  a  good  deal  about  it,  and 
the  ideas  flash  up  in  his  mind.  He  denies  that  they 
had  ever  led  him  into  bad  sex  affairs  of  any  kind.  "I 
try  not  to  think  about  it  when  it  comes  up  in  my  mind, 
I  think  about  going  out  to  play  or  something  like  that. 
I  don't  care  for  it." 

Andrew  tells  us  he  has  taken  to  smoking.  He  insists 
that  he  doesn't  care  for  girls,  nor  would  he  engage  in 
any  of  the  sex  things  of  which  he  has  heard,  but  he 
cannot  help  thinking  about  them.     He  proposes  that 


302  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

he  be  sent  away  for  a  time  to  some  school  and  then 
perhaps  he  could  control  himself  better. 

To  us  Andrew  showed  evidences  of  possessing  a 
decidedly  strong  character.  He  has  a  good  chin  and  a 
rather  stubborn  look  on  his  serious  face.  We  should 
also  characterize  him  as  being  a  quick,  careless,  rather 
nervous  type.  It  is  here  impossible  to  do  justice  to 
the  ingenuous  account  which  we  received,  after  becom- 
ing friendly  with  this  boy,  about  his  own  inner  mental 
life  and  the  things  he  fought  against  in  it. 

On  our  advice,  this  boy  was  placed  in  a  private 
school.  We  knew  that  he  would  be  subjected  to  the 
usual  routine,  but  we  could  see  nothing  better  for  him, 
since  his  father's  business  did  not  permit  his  being  a 
companion  to  the  boy,  and  since  neither  of  the  parents, 
although  intelligent,  seemed  to  have  any  capacity  for 
understanding  the  real  causation.  The  father  blamed 
the  boy's  physical  conditions,  his  constipation,  the 
school  teachers,  or  anything  else,  except  the  real  under- 
lying cause  which  we  discovered  and  which  the  boy 
acknowledged.  The  father  never  exerted  himself  to 
obtain  the  full  confidences  of  his  son. 

Taken  away  from  his  old  associations,  the  boy  has 
done  right  well,  except  for  occasional  outbreaks  of  his 
former  misbehavior.  We  felt  that  very  likely  he  would 
gradually  get  hold  of  himself,  even  though  we  saw 
clearly  that  the  most  direct  method  of  re-education 
to  greater  stability  would  never  be  utilized.  From 
the  school  the  report  comes  that  this  boy  is  not 
considered  abnormal  in  his  conduct,  although  some- 
what erratic  in  deportment.  His  class  work  is  con- 
sistently fair.  (The  latest  report,  a  year  and  a  half 
after  his  entrance  in  the  school,  is  that  he  is  still 
doing  well.) 


OTHER  DELINQUENCIES   RESULTING    303 

Case  39.  In  one  case  of  a  little  boy  who  showed 
extreme  tendencies  towards  cruelty  and  other  malicious 
misbehavior,  complete  evidence  of  repressions  was 
obtained,  although  the  boy's  own  reaction  to  inquiry 
was  always  that  of  obdurate  resistance.  An  uncom- 
mon feature  in  this  case  was  that  with  the  original 
overt  expression  of  sex  tendencies  there  was  no  other 
form  of  dehnquency;  coincident  with  repression,  vio- 
lent forms  of  misconduct  appeared. 

Lawrence  L.,  seven  years  of  age,  was  adopted  by  a 
highly  intelligent  family.  Their  methods  of  upbring- 
ing were  model,  but  in  this  instance  the  result  was  a 
complete  failure.  They  had  had  the  boy  for  about  a 
year,  and  there  had  been  on  his  part  one  offense  after 
another,  until  even  their  unusual  patience  was  ex- 
hausted. 

Lawrence  as  seen  by  us  was  in  splendid  physical  con- 
dition. In  general  developmental  characteristics  all 
points  were  normal,  and  he  had  been  cared  for  admi- 
rably. Mentally  we  classified  him  as  being  unusually 
bright,  in  fact,  somewhat  precocious.  The  boy  used 
good  language  and  talked  well,  but  one  soon  found 
on  approaching  any  question  of  his  delinquencies  that 
one  had  to  deal  with  easily  discerned  self-contradictions, 
and  a  mass  of  material  that  was  part  truth  and  part 
lies,  all  mixed  together  under  the  impulse  of  a  defense 
reaction. 

The  family  history  of  this  child  was  atrociously  bad, 
including  criminality  on  the  part  of  both  his  father 
and  mother,  and  more  than  this,  his  early  environment 
had  been  equally  poor.  For  scientific  interpretation 
of  heredity  the  details  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  widely 
scattered   families   are   imperfect;    our   knowledge   is 


304  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

simply   that   several   members   of   the   families    were 
addicted  to  alcohol  and  had  been  guilty  of  crimes. 

The  delinquencies  of  Lawrence  were  very  remark- 
able. Soon  after  he  came  to  live  with  his  foster  parents 
he  was  caught  showing  his  sex  feelings  towards  a  little 
cousin  of  the  family,  who  lived  next  door;  he  had 
undressed  her.  At  this  time  he  was  tremendously 
demonstrative  in  his  affections  towards  the  women 
in  the  family.  He  was  very  fond  of  getting  up  close 
to  them  and  kissing  them,  for  instance,  all  up  and 
down  their  arms.  Later  he  was  caught  in  masturba- 
tion on  several  occasions  and  was  circumcised.  Follow- 
ing this  operation,  there  had  been  no  further  overt  dis- 
play of  sex  tendencies. 

Soon  after  this  change,  however,  Lawrence  began 
showing  inclinations  towards  cruelty;  with  older  boys 
he  seemed  normal,  but  with  little  children  he  was 
always  inclined  to  be  mean  and  brutal.  He  exhibited 
these  tendencies  in  the  most  deliberate  way.  Once 
his  foster  mother  had  warned  the  children  about  the 
danger  of  stepping  on  broken  glass  which  she  had 
observed  near  the  house.  Later  it  was  found  that  on 
four  occasions  Lawrence  had  deliberately  distributed 
broken  glass  where  the  children  might  possibly  step  on 
it.  He  later  stated  that  he  did  this  so  that  they  would 
get  cut.  He  also  threw  down  needles  for  the  same 
purpose.  A  succession  of  accidents  to  the  little  cousin 
had  been  reported,  and  after  the  family  became  sus- 
picious, it  proved  that  Lawrence  several  times  had  hit 
her  thumb  with  a  hammer.  He  once  put  some  glass 
down  her  neck  and  once  cut  her  with  glass.  He  had 
also  beaten  her.  In  their  childish  pleasures  it  was 
always  noted  that  he  showed  extreme  selfishness  and 
jealousy  of  her. 


OTHER   DELINQUENCIES   RESULTING    305 

(To  the  student  of  these  problems  it  will  be  interest- 
ing to  note  that  this  little  girl  seemed  to  stand  these 
attentions  with  remarkable  equanimity.  In  spite  of 
his  behavior  towards  her,  she  always  took  his  part  and, 
whenever  he  was  jealous,  divided  with  him  what  she 
had  received.  She  did  not  make  any  complaint  of  his 
hurting  her  until  the  elders  of  the  family  had  suspected 
the  cause  of  her  bruises.  In  this,  of  course,  she  showed 
masochistic  tendencies.) 

Lawrence  was  deliberately  cruel  to  animals;  he 
picked  insects  to  pieces,  in  spite  of  having  been  taught 
that  this  was  very  wrong.  Other  children  reported 
that  he  was  very  abusive  to  an  unusually  gentle  dog 
who  was  their  playmate.  In  the  most  malicious  way 
he  had  lately  stolen  highly  valuable  articles  from  his 
foster  mother,  the  stealing  of  which  benefited  him 
not  at  all  and  gave  her  a  great  deal  of  trouble.  He 
secreted  these  articles  so  well  that  they  were  never 
found,  and  told  lie  after  lie  about  what  he  had  done 
with  them. 

When  he  first  came  to  these  people,  he  was  recog- 
nized as  being  quite  untruthful,  but  his  stealing,  as 
well  as  his  bad  temper  and  maliciousness  and  cruelty, 
was  not  displayed  until  after  his  show  of  bad  sex 
tendencies  had  ceased.  We  obtained  this  point  very 
clearly  from  his  guardians,  although  they  had  never 
thought  about  the  significance  of  these  facts.  They 
had  kept  close  account  of  his  development  for  its 
human  interest  and  as  a  measure  of  what  might  be 
accomplished  with  a  child  apparently  physically  and 
mentally  normal  who  came  from  bad  surroundings  and 
bad  stock. 

Latterly  Lawrence  had  been  doing  better  in  his 
studies;   at  first  it  had  seemed  as  if  he  were  not  able 


306  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

to  concentrate  well.  He  was  regarded  as  a  merry- 
hearted  boy ;  he  often  played  nicely  with  other  children. 

Our  own  study  of  Lawrence  brought  out  very  little 
that  is  not  already  mentioned  above.  He  was  willing 
to  tell  us  that  he  had  known  of  sex  affairs  long  before 
he  had  come  to  this  new  home,  but  we  gained  no  clue 
whatever  to  the  exact  mechanisms  of  his  inner  satis- 
factions resulting  from  his  acts  of  cruelty.  The  student 
of  mental  analysis  can  readily  understand,  however, 
the  nature  of  the  mental  life  that  was  going  on  below 
the  surface. 

The  subsequent  history  of  this  case  is  of  the  greatest 
interest.  The  foster  parents  found  a  new  home  for  the 
boy,  where  there  were  no  small  children.  I  felt  that 
taking  him  away  from  the  little  girl  who  had  been  the 
object  of  his  sex  feelings  and  whom  he  later  had  treated 
so  cruelly  was  absolutely  essential.  The  result  under 
changed  conditions  has  been  most  gratifying.  The 
behavior  of  Lawrence  has  been  entirely  free  from  his 
old  misconduct  for  considerably  more  than  a  year,  and 
no  further  sadistic  tendencies  have  been  reported.  It 
is  very  evident  that  the  latter  had  received  consider- 
able impulse  from  continued  suggestion  in  the  associa- 
tions of  his  previous  home ;  the  people  themselves,  the 
mother  and  the  little  girl,  had  been  the  objects  upon 
which  he  had  centered  his  ardent  feelings.  To  remain 
with  them  could  mean  nothing  but  continuous  demand 
for  repression.  Living  in  another  home  proved  to  be 
the  best  safeguard  against  renewal  of  original  causes. 

Case  40.  We  have  here  an  instance  of  the  develop- 
ment of  tendencies  to  cruelty  (sadism)  correlated  with 
premature  arousal  of  sex  impulses  leading  to  mental 
conflict. 


OTHER   DELINQUENCIES  RESULTING    307 

Abel  S.  was  brought  in  from  a  school  for  half-orphans 
for  us  to  study.  He  was  then  ten  years  of  age  and 
had  been  at  the  school  for  three  years.  He  was  recog- 
nized as  a  bright  enough  boy,  but  he  had  become  ex- 
ceedingly troublesome  within  the  last  six  months  or  so. 
The  main  complaint  was  that  he  frequently  showed  a 
violent  temper,  even  to  the  point  of  attacking  the  other 
children  with  any  object  he  could  lay  his  hands  on ; 
once  he  had  threatened  another  child  with  a  knife. 
Besides  this,  however,  Abel  had  repeatedly  pinched 
smaller  children  and  had  been  observed  sticking  them 
and  scratching  them  with  pins.  There  was  some  com- 
plaint of  bad  sex  habits  on  the  boy's  part,  but  this, 
apparently,  meant  that  the  matron  had  seen  him 
occasionally  touching  himself  in  a  suspicious  way.  No 
account  of  real  masturbation  was  forthcoming. 

The  father  came  in  to  give  us  a  history  of  the  case. 
His  wife  had  committed  suicide  four  years  previously. 
After  he  had  married  her,  he  had  discovered  that  she 
was  epileptic.  There  was  nothing  further  especially 
interesting  in  the  family  history.  Abel  was  the  third 
child.  Developmental  history  was  quite  negative ;  in- 
deed, the  boy  had  all  along  been  considered  as  un- 
usually healthy  and  bright.  Before  he  had  been  sent 
to  the  school,  and  after  his  mother  had  died,  the  father 
knew  that  some  boys  had  taught  him  bad  sex  habits, 
but  the  older  brother  had  told  him  to  stop  these,  and 
it  was  presumed  that  he  had  done  so.  The  father  knew 
of  no  way  in  which  to  account  for  Abel's  present  type 
of  behavior.  From  both  father  and  child  we  carefully 
inquired  for  attacks  of  any  kind  which  could  be  inter- 
preted as  evidence  of  the  inheritance  of  an  epileptic 
taint.     We  found  nothing  whatever  to  indicate  this. 

Working  with  Abel  we  soon  found  him  to  be  a  boy 


308  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

of  quick  and  sharp  mental  reactions,  not  suggestible 
even  to  the  ordinary  degree  for  his  age.  The  boy 
showed  unusual  powers  of  introspection.  He  answered 
our  questions  and  outlined  the  history  of  his  mental 
life  in  a  very  thoughtful  manner,  using  exceptionally 
good  language  for  his  years  and  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  a  foreign  language  was  largely  spoken  at  home 
and  in  the  school  to  which  he  had  been  sent.  Abel 
showed  a  normal  childish  lack  of  memory,  particularly 
in  regard  to  time,  but  his  veracious  tendencies  were 
shown  in  the  fact  that  he  did  not  attempt  to  fill  in 
these  lacks  or  to  romance  in  any  way.  With  us  he 
seemed  willingly  truthful  all  through,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  his  first  reaction  to  our  inquiry  concerning  the 
causes  for  his  cruelty  to  children.  This  was  the  only 
delinquency  that  he  denied,  and  even  this  he  later 
freely  acknowledged. 

On  mental  tests,  in  spite  of  some  diflSculty  with 
language,  he  graded  as  being  rather  precocious.  On 
Binet  tests  he  scaled  a  little  more  than  a  year  above 
his  age.  There  was  no  doubt  about  his  being  a  boy  of 
good  mental  parts. 

Physically  Abel  presented  a  normal  picture  in  every 
way.  He  appeared  strong,  upright,  alert,  with  good 
features  and  firm  expression.  We  were  particularly 
interested  to  note  that  he  seemed  the  reverse  of  a  child 
who  could  be  indulging  in  sex  habits. 

From  Abel  we  got  a  story  that  was  vital  to  under- 
standing the  situation.  He  assured  us  that  he  did 
not  like  it  in  the  school,  he  got  in  trouble  altogether 
too  easily  there ;  the  boys  were  continually  getting 
him  angry,  they  would  punch  him  and  then  he  would 
be  so  "mad"  that  he  tried  to  hit  them  with  anything 
that   he   could    reach.     Then    there    were   boys    who 


OTHER   DELINQUENCIES  RESULTING    309 

started  something  going  in  his  head.  "Sometimes 
the  boys  in  our  school  say  the  bad  word.  Some- 
times when  they  say  it,  my  head  would  be  going 
round,  like  this." 

Bringing  up  the  question  why  any  word  should 
affect  him  peculiarly,  we  led  back  to  his  earlier  life, 
before  he  went  to  the  school.  It  appears  that  the 
boys  on  the  street  where  they  then  lived  were  not  good. 
He  could  not  remember  their  names  at  all,  but  he 
remembers  well  what  they  told  him.  He  saw  them 
go  with  a  girl  into  a  big  box  and  also  into  a  shed,  and 
sometimes  the  boys  went  in  by  themselves ;  they  locked 
themselves  in,  and  he  did  not  see  what  went  on,  but 
they  told  him  about  it.  He  was  then  too  little  to 
understand  what  they  meant  and  what  the  word 
signified.  Then,  some  of  the  same  crowd  started  him 
on  masturbation.  During  these  years  at  the  school  he 
has  given  way  to  this  but  very  little.  He  has  never 
seen  any  others  do  anything  of  the  kind,  nor  has  any- 
body ever  done  anything  bad  to  him,  but  when  certain 
words  are  uttered,  a  great  deal  of  this  comes  back  to 
him,  and  he  tries  desperately  not  to  think  of  it.  *'I 
tried  not  to.  I  always  tried  not  to  think.  I  tried  not 
to  keep  it  in  my  mind.  I'd  play  marbles,  and  then 
some  boy  maybe  would  swear,  and  it  would  get  in  my 
mind."  As  evidence  of  just  what  did  bother  him, 
Abel  cited  to  us  a  most  curious  anagram,  the  like  of 
which  we  had  never  heard  before  and  would  not  have 
understood  except  that  he  showed  us  that  the  first 
letters  spelled  a  bad  word. 

About  his  actual  temptations  Abel  gave  us  a  strik- 
ingly good  account.  He  maintained  that  he  often  felt 
like  doing  what  he  learned  about  earlier,  but  he  would 
not  do  it.     He  showed  how  he  placed  his  hands  under 


310  MENTAL  CONFLICTS 

his  arms  so  that  they  should  be  away  from  other  parts 
of  his  body.  "I'd  put  my  hands  hke  that,  and  I 
should  think  about  happy  things  and  not  about  them 
things.  I  don't  let  my  hands  feel  like  that  no  more. 
I  read  '  Good  Health ',  and  I  don't  do  it  no  more. 
The  boys  say  it,  and  write  it,  those  bad  words,  but  I 
never  said  it  to  no  one." 

About  his  continual  fighting  and  bad  temper,  Abel 
tells  us  that  it  is  all  on  account  of  the  other  boys. 
"They  made  me  so  mad,  I  said  I  would  kill  any  one 
of  them."  A  threat  that  he  made  to  set  the  place  on 
fire,  was  "just  for  fun",  because  he  was  "mad." 
"The  boys  get  me  mad,  and  I  have  my  teeth  together, 
like  this,  I  get  so  mad."  Abel  tells  us  that  he  some- 
times gets  all  "shaky"  inside.  He  thinks  this  is 
mostly  when  he  is  angry.  He  does  not  sleep  well  at 
night,  dreams  mostly  about  ghosts  and  devils  and 
stories  which  the  boys  make  up  about  such  things.  In 
his  sleep  he  starts  fighting  and  wakes  up.  Sometimes 
he  dreams  about  girls  and  particularly  of  seeing  boys 
and  girls  kissing. 

Inquiry  about  specific  events  when  he  has  hurt 
other  children  brought  out  that  another  boy  was  badly 
cut  by  him  on  the  head  and  rendered  unconscious, 
but  that  was  done  distinctly  in  anger  because  the  boys 
were  pushing  him  on  the  slide.  When  it  came  to  the 
matter  of  his  use  of  pins  on  the  little  children,  we  found, 
for  the  first  time,  considerable  resistance.  After  some 
hesitation,  then,  and  at  later  interviews,  Abel  acknowl- 
edged that  he  did  pinch  these  children  or  stick  pins 
into  them.  He  did  it  at  times  when  he  was  excited. 
He  had  told  us  about  local  sex  irritation  previously, 
and  we  were  interested  to  ask  if  this  occurred  at  the 
times  of  hurting  other  children.     Abel  felt  sure  that 


OTHER  DELINQUENCIES  RESULTING    311 

he  did  have  some  feelings  of  this  sort,  but  they  were 
not  at  all  definite  in  his  mind. 

There  seemed  little  doubt  about  this  fact,  because 
on  all  negative  points  Abel  was  thoroughly  accustomed 
to  reply  in  the  negative,  firmly  and  sharply.  Vague 
though  his  explanation  and  memory  of  his  feelings 
seemed  to  be,  yet  it  was  clear  that  some  sort  of  sex 
stimulation  occurred  at  these  times. 

Abel  was  strongly  of  the  opinion  that  he  ought  not 
to  remain  in  the  school  or  to  live  anywhere  with  other 
boys.  He  wanted  to  go  to  a  farm,  he  thought,  where 
he  would  be  away  from  other  children.  Asked  what 
prevents  him  from  being  good,  he  said,  "It's  what  is 
bad  that  comes  up  in  my  head."  This  "bad"  seems 
to  be  entirely  based  on  what  he  heard  when  he  was 
only  six  years  old,  and  this  was  what  he  had  fought 
against.  The  seriousness  of  his  attitude  towards  his 
own  problem  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  points 
brought  out  by  our  study. 

Through  our  advice,  Abel  was  placed  in  a  country 
home  under  the  care  of  a  woman  who  has  special 
ability  for  handling  boys  who  are  problems.  During 
the  ten  months  he  has  been  under  her  care,  he  has 
given  no  trouble  in  school  nor  in  her  household  where 
he  is  in  daily  association  with  other  children.  It  is 
interesting  to  note  the  report  that  he  is  considered  "a 
kind  boy,  good  to  others." 


CHAPTER  XVII 
CONCLUSIONS 

What  remains  to  be  said  in  this  chapter  on  Conclu- 
sions is  in  summary  of  the  findings,  not  only  in  the 
cases  given  above,  but  from  our  entire  experience 
with  misconduct  developed  from  mental  conflicts. 
Much  in  the  way  of  generalization  has  been  given  in 
the  opening  chapters  which  needs  no  repetition  here. 

An  important  query,  often  made,  concerning  mental 
conflicts  and  their  consequences,  is  whether  or  not  men- 
tal conflict  represents  a  reaction  that  implies  a  'pecul- 
iar constitution  of  the  person  so  reacting.  Are  there 
traits  and  characteristics  which  render  some  individ- 
uals susceptible  to  this  type  of  mental  mechanisms, 
whereas  others  escape  .^  Freud  and  his  followers  have 
already  suggested  that  this  may  be  true,  that  an  in- 
herited or  a  congenital  predisposition  is  needed,  if 
not  for  the  genesis  of  a  mental  conflict,  at  least  for  it 
to  produce  the  nervous  and  mental  symptoms  which 
these  medicopsychologists  have  so  carefully  studied. 
We  have  taken  this  topic  under  consideration,  with 
the  following  results : 

In  the  first  place  it  will  be  wise,  since  conflicts  have 
been  so  generally  observed  in  relation  to  the  psycho- 
neuroses,  to  inquire  to  what  extent  misdoers  through 
mental    conflict    are    neurotics.     We    can    determine 

312 


CONCLUSIONS  313 

this  in  a  general  way  on  the  basis  of  sufficient  cases 
to  make  the  verdict  thoroughly  reliable.  While,  of 
course,  we  have  studied  numerous  cases  of  conflict 
and  misconduct  accompanying  psychoneuroses,  we 
have,  nevertheless,  found  conflicts  existing  in  dozens 
of  instances  where  the  misdoer  was  in  first-rate  physi- 
cal condition,  and  where  neither  the  physical  exami- 
nation nor  the  history  gave  any  evidences  of  nervous 
disorder.  On  the  other  hand,  if  we  compare  this 
group  of  misdoers  with  others  whose  delinquencies 
are  not  the  result  of  conflicts,  we  find  no  marked 
difference  between  the  average  nervous  make-up.  In 
many  neurotic  offenders  there  is  no  trace  or  hint  of  men- 
tal conflict  as  a  cause  for  misdoing.  The  main  point 
is  thus  clear,  namely,  that  mental  conflict  commonly 
produces  misbehavior  in  individuals  who  prove  them- 
selves by  examination  and  history  to  have  apparently 
normally  stable  nervous  systems. 

Concerning  the  problem  of  heredity  in  its  relation 
to  our  topic,  I  may  say,  in  short,  that  there  is  no  good 
evidence  that  our  instances  of  conflict  have  arisen 
upon  any  specific  hereditary  basis.  If  any  predispo- 
sition is  inherited,  it  is  not,  in  general,  such  as  may  be 
identified  and  traced  in  any  ordinary  family  history. 
We  have  seen  enough  parents  and  obtained  enough 
outlines  of  family  traits  to  show  us  that  if  foundations 
for  the  mental  conflicts  we  have  studied  do  exist  in 
characteristics  of  the  family  stock,  that  recognition  of 
these  characteristics  is  quite  beyond  present  powers 
of  discernment.  None  of  the  ordinary,  categorized 
abnormalities  of  mind  and  disposition  are  to  be  found 
among  these  families  with  any  great  degree  of  fre- 
quency. Our  histories  given  in  the  preceding  chapters 
show  over  and  over  again  normal  ancestry,  as  far  as 


314  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

we  have  been  able  to  find  out  by  first-hand  observa- 
tion and  information.  In  regard  to  the  instances 
where  heredity  is  defective,  I  may  again  suggest  com- 
parison with  other  groups  of  misdoers,  —  it  being  well 
known  that  offenders  in  general  come  from  stock  that 
averages  poorer  than  that  of  non-offenders. 

The  age  of  onset  of  conflicts  has  always  been  a 
matter  of  exceeding  interest  to  students  of  mental 
analysis.  The  analytic  method  of  investigating  human 
motives  and  reactions  has  proved  nothing  better  than 
that  at  hitherto  unsuspected  early  ages  there  are  in 
the  mental  life  forces  at  work,  transmuting  elements 
derived  from  experiences  into  reaction  tendencies, 
—  tendencies  which  may  not  be  recognized  at  the 
time.  The  reader  of  the  previous  chapters  will  be 
struck  by  our  practical  findings  in  confirmation  of  this 
point.  It  seems  doubtful  whether  complexes  of  much 
significance  for  students  of  misconduct  ever  arise 
beyond  the  early  days  of  adolescence.  It  remains 
for  observers  of  older  offenders  to  show  us  how 
long  conflicts  as  moving  forces  in  misconduct  may 
persist. 

The  length  of  time  a  conflict  may  lie  dormant  be- 
fore producing  reactions  in  misbehavior  seems  to  vary 
according  to  the  nature  of  the  individual,  the  strength 
of  repressions,  and  outward  opportunities  or  incen- 
tives for  misconduct.  In  our  experience  we  have 
been  more  impressed,  of  course,  by  those  cases  where 
the  unfortunate  conduct  has  broken  out  after  long 
periods  of  repression,  during  which  no  one  has  known 
of  the  prior  disturbing  experiences,  than  by  what 
seems  the  more  natural  order  of  events,  namely,  re- 
action within  a  comparatively  short  time.  That 
children   can   keep   affairs,    important   to   themselves, 


CONCLUSIONS  315 

hidden  in  mental  life  for  long  months  and  years  is  a 
fact  of  great  human  significance. 

Passing  on  to  consider  special  mental  traits  as  pos- 
sibly characterizing  those  who  are  susceptible  to 
mental  conflicts  which  produce  misbehavior,  we  can 
offer  at  least  the  following  conclusions  :  Any  precon- 
ceived idea  that  these  victims  of  conflicts  must  be 
individuals  inordinately  given  to  moody  introspec- 
tion falls  to  the  ground,  in  light  of  the  facts.  Our 
experience  is  that  many  of  these  misdoers  are  finely 
frank  and  open  and  not  given  to  depression.  Any- 
thing approaching  the  "shut-in"  type  is  very  rarely 
seen.  Even  when  imagery  and  impelling  ideas  amount 
almost  to  obsessions,  healthy-mindedness  in  other 
directions  is  often  clearly  apparent.  We  can  find, 
then,  no  evidence  of  conflicts  especially  afflicting  indi- 
viduals of  a  general  subjective  temperament. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  can  be  not  the  slightest 
doubt  that  those  who  suffer  from  conflicts  are  so  tuned 
that  they  respond  to  certain  experiences  in  a  way 
that  some  others  would  not.  It  must  be  that  those 
who  are  affected  are  decidedly  sensitive  beings,  but 
whether  or  not  beyond  the  average  of  normal  people 
it  would  be  hard  to  say,  particularly  since  we  have 
no  norms  with  which  to  compare  them.  (Certainly 
it  is  extremely  rare  that  we  find  any  case  of  con- 
flict among  offenders  of  the  "rough"  type,  such  as 
comprise  a  considerable  percentage  of  delinquents  in 
general.)  We  recognize  that  in  some  instances  we 
have  had  to  do  with  hypersensitive  individuals,  but 
even  that  does  not  imply  hypersensitiveness  in  other 
directions.  Indeed,  the  reader  of  case-histories  can 
but  wonder  at  the  coupling  of  great  sensitiveness  on 
one   point   with   obvious   callousness   in   other   ways ; 


316  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

the  delinquencies  which  are  entered  into  bring  out  this 
latter  fact. 

Reviewing  other  qualities  of  character,  tempera- 
ment, and  disposition,  it  can  fairly  be  stated  that  no 
special  type  predominates  among  our  cases.  Indi- 
viduals exhibiting  many  varieties  of  traits  are  affected 
by  mental  conflicts  which  react  in  misbehavior.  The 
fact  that  neurologists  who  use  mental  analysis  in  the 
treatment  of  the  neuroses  continually  emphasize  the 
limited  or  retarded  emotional  (affective)  development 
of  their  patients  has  made  us  consider  this  point  in 
particular.  While  we,  too,  have  observed  immature 
emotionality  in  hysterical  and  neurasthenic  miscon- 
duct cases,  I  can  with  surety  state  that  in  many 
others  we  find  no  traces  of  anything  but  generally 
normal  emotional  reactions.  Neither  do  we  find  very 
frequent  evidences  of  over-assertiveness  and  egocen- 
trism. 

The  question  of  whether  different  races  and  nation- 
alities possibly  present  specific  characteristics  that 
have  bearing  upon  the  development  of  conflicts  and 
reactions  thereto  may  be  answered  in  a  word.  Our 
cases  are  drawn  from  many  different  nationalities 
which  seem,  respectively,  to  give  no  intimation  of 
special  susceptibilities  to  conflicts  being  correlated 
with  national  characteristics.  Of  course,  it  is  obvious 
that  peoples  who  conceal  little  and  immediately  dis- 
play their  emotions  are  less  likely  to  suffer  from  re- 
pressed elements  in  the  mental  life. 

In  general  abilities  we  find  our  conflict  cases  ranging 
far  above  the  average  of  our  entire  group  of  delin- 
quents. Comparing  one  hundred  and  thirty  cases  of 
mental  conflict  with  a  thousand  repeated  offenders 
carefully   classified    on    the   basis    of   mental    ability, 


CONCLUSIONS  317 

the  percentage  of  those  above  the  class  designated 
poor  in  ability  is  twice  as  great  in  the  mental  conflict 
group.  Of  the  latter,  seven  per  cent,  grade  as  super- 
normal, and  at  least  eighty  per  cent,  of  the  remainder 
are  fair  or  average  in  ability,  although  eight  per  cent, 
of  these  have  had  distinctly  poor  educational  advan- 
tages. (Of  the  one  hundred  and  thirty  cases  only 
four  and  a  half  per  cent,  were  classified  as  abnormal, 
that  is,  either  feeble-minded  or  psychoses.) 

In  order  to  ascertain  whether  any  special  mental 
characteristics,  as  judged  by  reactions  to  mental 
tests,  are  common  to  this  group  of  conflict  cases,  we 
have  tabulated  the  results  in  a  number  of  the  tests 
which  were  most  frequently  used ;  not  all  tests  being 
given  in  every  case.  (Of  course,  on  the  Binet  scale, 
the  normal  cases  graded  practically  to  age  or  above. 
This  was  taken  into  account  in  their  general  classi- 
fication.) 

There  is  little  use  discussing  certain  of  the  perform- 
ance tests  given,  such  as  construction  tests,  because 
there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  this  conflict  group 
would  not  show  the  usual  variability.  Indeed,  this  is 
what  we  find.  In  tests  where  one  might  with  some 
show  of  reason  suspect  results  to  be  significant,  we 
discover  the  following : 

General  mental  control  as  evidenced  by  such  tests 
as  controlled  associations,  our  code  test,  the  contin- 
uous subtraction  test,  and  general  observation  on  other 
performances,  shows  no  defect  or  peculiarity  belong- 
ing to  this  group.  Indeed,  the  tests  are  done  well 
on  the  average,  as  compared  with  the  larger  group  of 
other  mentally  normal  delinquents. 

Psychomotor  control:  Leaving  out  the  cases  with 
definite  nervous  diseases  and  the  very  young  who  are 


318  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

not  expected  to  make  an  average  record  on  our  tap- 
ping test  or  any  other  test  which  involves  good  motor 
control,  we  find  quite  the  usual  and  average  reactions. 
Individuals  of  ordinary  ability  over  twelve  years  of 
age  may  be  expected  in  our  motor  coordination  test 
to  tap  at  least  sixty  squares  in  thirty  seconds  with 
not  more  than  three  or  four  errors.  Our  present  con- 
flict group  reaches  this  standard,  the  median  score 
being  seventy,  with  .5  as  the  median  error,  this  being 
calculated  on  the  basis  of  the  average  of  two  trials. 

Control  of  association  processes  has  been  directly 
tested  by  the  opposites  test.  The  results  are  well  up 
to  the  usual  scores,  both  for  time  and  accuracy.  Con- 
sidering language  and  educational  differences  the 
range  of  response  from  one  to  four  and  a  half  seconds 
is  very  moderate.  The  median  time  record,  one  and 
four-fifths  seconds,  is  decidedly  good.  The  median 
error,  being  only  one,  shows  even  better. 

Powers  of  mental  representation  as  estimated  by  the 
well-known  cross-fine  tests  stand  out  more  strongly, 
perhaps,  than  any  other  discovered  mental  abilities. 
These  tests  happen  to  have  been  given  in  a  large 
majority  of  the  cases.  The  first  cross-line  test  was 
given  in  eighty-one  cases,  none  of  which  failed.  Of 
these,  seventy-five  per  cent,  did  it  correctly  on  the 
first  trial.  We  were  surprised  to  find  that  the  scores 
on  the  second  cross-line  test,  usually  supposed  to  be  a 
fit  test  particularly  for  those  twelve  years  old  or  above, 
in  spite  of  numbers  of  cases  being  under  twelve  years 
of  age,  was  done  almost  equally  well.  In  the  ninety- 
four  normal  cases  in  which  it  was  given,  there  were 
but  two  failures.  Almost  eighty-five  per  cent,  of 
these  successes  were  on  the  first  or  second  trials.  This 
is  a  record  that  compares  very  favorably  with  the 


CONCLUSIONS  319 

results  on  a  selected  private-school  group  as  tested 
by  Doctor  Clara  Schmitt,  formerly  of  our  institute. 
Inasmuch  as  powers  of  mental  representation  are  by 
some  suggested  as  being  the  foundations  of  foresight, 
and  the  use  of  normal  foresight  might  be  expected  to 
keep  these  misdoers  from  repetition  of  their  offenses, 
the  above  findings  are  of  great  interest. 

Apperceptions  as  evaluated  by  the  pictorial  comple- 
tion test  may  be  considered.  Previously  we  have 
stated  that  this  is  a  test  which  should  be  performed 
by  individuals  of  ordinarily  good  intelligence  above 
ten  years  of  age  in  at  least  five  minutes,  with  not  more 
than  one  illogical  and  two  total  errors.  It  has  been 
given  in  sixty-seven  cases  in  this  group.  The  median 
number  of  illogical  errors  is  zero,  range  of  such  errors 
is  zero  to  three.  The  latter  record  was  made  in  only 
one  instance.  The  median  number  of  total  errors  is 
one,  range  of  total  errors  is  zero  to  four.  The  last 
occurs  only  in  two  cases,  both  young  children. 

Memory  powers,  as  estimated  in  general  by  results 
on  Binet  and  other  tests,  are  certainly  at  least  up  to 
the  normal.  The  good  records  on  many  tests  which 
involve  memory  are  proof  of  this. 

If  the  reader  raises  a  question  concerning  the  func- 
tioning of  will,  on  account  of  these  individuals  being 
so  patently  the  victims  of  impulses,  we  may  state  that 
as  far  as  tests  which  require  attention  and  some  con- 
tinuity of  effort  are  concerned,  there  is  no  indication 
of  deficiency  in  will,  nor  do  the  histories  often  show 
such  weakness.  These  cases  are  not  at  all  like  our 
instances  of  defect  in  self-control.  However,  will 
from  the  psychological  standpoint  is  hardly  a  unitary 
function.  Individuals  may  show  all  sorts  of  strong 
powers  of  attention  and  sustained  effort  in  one  field 


320  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

or  in  one  sphere  of  interest  and  apparently  be  woefully 
lacking  in  ability  to  carry  out  activities  in  another 
direction. 

Summary  of  the  tests,  then,  shows  our  cases  to  pos- 
sess good  mental  abilities,  but  we  find  no  one  test  or  a 
group  of  tests  of  diagnostic  worth  either  for  discovering 
the  general  fact  of  conflict  ^  or  indicating  the  type  of 
personality  that  is  particularly  prone  to  conflicts. 

We  have  been  asked  whether  our  findings  tend  to 
prove  the  existence  of  exceptional  sex  consciousness 
on  the  part  of  children  who  develop  complexes  and 
conflicts  upon  the  basis  of  the  experiences  we  have 
described.  In  reply,  the  suggestion  is  offered  that 
these  results  (to  wit,  the  conflicts)  should  be  com- 
pared with  what  takes  place  in  other  children  who  have 
had  somewhat  similar  experiences,  and  particularly 
with  the  behavior  of  close  companions,  perhaps  the 
very  ones  from  whom  our  conflict  victims  gained  their 
unfortunate  knowledge.  Over  and  over  again  we 
have  learned  of  companions  who  have  shown  no  hesi- 
tation in  overtly  expressing  what  they  knew  or  felt 
concerning  sex  matters,  giving  no  evidence  of  conflicts 
or  vicarious  delinquencies.  Is  there  greater  proof  of 
sex  consciousness,  I  would  ask,  in  the  fact  of  repres- 
sion of  sex  knowledge  and  experience,  or  in  the  fact 
of  unrestrained  expression  of  such  knowledge  and 
experience  through  the  medium  of  language  or  of 
physical  practices  ?  Turning  impulse  inward  undoubt- 
edly tends  to  prolong  the  consciousness  of  its  activity 
and  to  magnify  it  in  mental  life,  but  that  this  implies 
a  special  innate  tendency  to  over-consciousness  in  sex 
matters,  I  fail  to  see. 

*  Concerning  the  use  of  the  association-reaction  method  for  determina- 
tion of  the  specific  nature  of  a  conflict,  vide  p.  62. 


CONCLUSIONS  321 

We  confess  to  being  unable  to  satisfy  even  our  own 
inquiry  about  the  complete  normality  or  abnormality 
in  reaction  type  of  those  who  develop  mental  conflicts. 
It  boots  little  to  say  that  this  or  that  individual  or 
kind  of  individual  would  not  have  reacted  thus,  be- 
cause it  would  be  very  rare  to  find  identical  circum- 
stances obtaining.  I  must  bring  to  the  front  once 
more,  however,  the  fact  that  the  experiences  which 
start  the  complexes  under  consideration  have  had 
peculiar  settings,  with  ominous  secrecy  and  the  like, 
and  have  come  from  socially  abnormal  sources.  Be- 
sides this,  they  often  have  certainly  arisen  at  moments 
and  ages  of  special  psychological  import  and,  as  I  have 
frequently  emphasized,  always  when  there  has  been 
no  normal  opportunity  for  confiding  the  experiences 
to  sympathetic  elders. 

The  possibility  of  the  existence  of  general  predispos- 
ing causes  of  conflicts  many  readers  will  feel  has  not 
been  exhausted  by  the  above  statement.  With  regard 
to  correlation  of  conflicts  with  physiological  malfunc- 
tioning, it  may  be  said  that,  while  perhaps  outbursts 
of  reactive  tendencies  may  in  some  occur  more  readily 
in  periods  of  special  stress,  such  as  menstruation 
{vide  p.  265),  on  the  whole  there  is  no  sign  of  there 
being  any  such  relationship. 

Environmental  circumstances  in  our  cases  are  most 
diverse.  The  histories  show  misdoers  coming  from  all 
classes  and  conditions  of  society.  There  is  one  com- 
mon feature,  however,  that  belongs  to  what  may  be 
termed  the  psychical  environment.  These  misdoers 
with  mental  conflicts  never  have  had  any  one  near  to 
them,  particularly  in  family  life,  who  supplied  oppor- 
tunities for  sympathetic  confidences.  Repression  has 
gone  on  very  largely  as  the  result  of  this  need. 


322  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

Concerning  origins  of  tendencies  to  misconduct  and 
particularly  to  specific  forms  of  misconduct  which 
are  displayed  in  our  cases,  to  be  specially  thought  of 
is  the  genesis  of  relations  between  repressed  elements 
of  the  complex  and  suggestion  of  misconduct  which 
later  is  engaged  in.  The  accounts  of  our  cases  often 
set  forth  very  plainly  the  immediate  juxtaposition  of 
these  as  matters  of  experience.  Whether  it  is  neces- 
sary for  the  two  to  be  in  close  bonds  of  association  at 
the  first  development  of  the  complex,  often  long  before 
any  reaction  to  conflict  is  exhibited,  we  are  not  sure. 
It  is  quite  conceivable  that  at  a  time  after  the  original 
complex  was  established  there  might  have  been  a 
renewal  of  the  emotional  state,  and  then  first  occurred 
association  of  it  with  the  suggestion  of  a  form  of  delin- 
quency which  would  be  in  some  measure  compatible 
with  the  individual's  ideas  of  action  possible  for  him. 
We  have  perceived  some  hint  of  this  being  a  fact  in 
several  of  our  cases,  but  it  must  be  confessed  that  a 
definite  statement  of  beginnings  when  all  the  elements 
were  from  the  very  first  in  close  association  is  so  fre- 
quent that  the  burden  of  proof  must  rest  upon  any  one 
to  show  the  facts  to  be  otherwise. 

In  the  search  for  characteristics  of  our  conflict  cases, 
we  have  seen  reason,  and  undoubtedly  the  reader  of 
our  histories  has  also,  to  wonder  whether  they  have 
made  normal  attempts  at  escaping  detection.  Again, 
we  should  warn  against  the  interpretation  of  any  facts 
except  in  the  light  of  comparison  with  another  group 
of  offenders ;  in  this  matter  with  those  of  the  same  age. 
When  this  is  done,  we  should  have  to  conclude  that, 
after  all,  there  is  very  little  difference.  Those  of  wide 
experience  with  adolescent  offenders  know  very  well 
how  impulses  are  given  way  to  without  consideration 


CONCLUSIONS  323 

of  results  or  the  attempt  to  avoid  consequences,  both 
evidences  of  a  lack  of  the  sense  of  precaution  which 
usually  develops  first  at  a  later  age. 

Even  though  it  savors  of  reiteration,  I  would  em- 
phasize here  that  our  histories  frequently  show  the 
building  up  of  criminalistic  mental  and  social  habits, 
and  that  these  form  one  of  the  greatest  evils  attendant 
upon  the  development  of  misconduct  as  reaction  to 
mental  conflicts.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
neural  pathways  worn  by  habit,  as  well  as  the  various 
outer  associations  formed,  lead  to  unfortunately  easy 
repetition  of  the  same  behavior.  For  the  reformation 
of  a  case  we  must,  from  the  findings,  infer  that  habit 
as  well  as  original  sources  of  impulse  may  have  to  be 
combated. 

We  find  that  conflict  cases  brought  to  us  have  been 
viewed  ordinarily  with  all  sorts  of  misconceptions 
concerning  the  nature  and  cause  of  the  trouble.  This 
stands  out  on  many  preceding  pages  in  this  book. 
Considering  that  extensive  careers  of  delinquency  may 
be  founded  on  mental  conflicts,  and  taking  into  ac- 
count the  fact  that  many  of  the  misdeeds  seem  to  be  un- 
dertaken with  slight  cause  and  apparent  lack  of  normal 
social  consciousness,  I  may  be  justified  in  suggesting 
the  likelihood  that  even  some  cases  of  so-called  moral 
imbecility  and  constitutional  immorality  are  really 
instances  of  misconduct  reactions  to  mental  conflicts. 

Our  findings,  naturally,  are  of  worth  in  formulating 
some  of  the  data  of  prognosis.  The  reader  will  have 
learned  already  that  in  some  instances  there  have 
been  immensely  favorable  outcomes.  In  the  chapter 
on  Applications  I  have  dealt  with  facts  which  par- 
tially cover  the  topic  of  prognosis,  as  far  as  it  can  at 
present  be  safely  set  forth. 


324  MENTAL   CONFLICTS 

The  limits  of  age  at  which  cures  may  possibly  be 
accomplished  are  not  yet  determined.  It  should  go 
without  saying  that  we  find  individuals  in  the  plastic 
ages,  when  habits  are  less  strongly  formed,  most  sus- 
ceptible to  improvement,  for  this  is  merely  in  line 
with  what  every  student  of  genetic  psychology  would 
expect.  I  have  commented  already  on  the  fact  that 
exploration  is  greatly  aided,  as  a  rule,  by  being  carried 
out  during  the  age  of  naive  communications.  Here, 
as  always,  there  is  some  variation  according  to  the 
individual  temperament,  but  the  general  rule  is  well 
established. 

Among  the  main  elements  to  be  considered  for 
prognosis,  it  comes  out  repeatedly  in  our  histories 
that  environment  plays  a  great  part,  and  particularly 
mental  environment.  The  possibilities  of  establish- 
ing new  interests,  new  confidences,  new  ways  of  look- 
ing at  life,  have  all  to  be  taken  into  account. 

The  effect  of  institutional  life  on  the  type  of  cases 
we  have  been  considering  is  shown  in  some  of  the 
instances  cited  in  the  foregoing  chapters.  Some  of 
them  have  been  made  much  worse  by  institutional 
experiences;  others  have  not  suffered  particularly, 
but  have  met  their  own  problems  later  and  have  re- 
formed ;  still  others  have  been  distinctly  benefited  by 
the  breaking  up  of  the  delinquent  habit  through  forced 
removal  from  opportunity,  I  fear  we  know  of  no 
case  of  conflicts  which  in  an  institution  has  had  its 
individual  problem  met  in  the  straightforward  and 
economical  way  that  scientific  acquaintance  with  the 
fact  of  mental  conflict  should  demand. 

Most  of  the  good  results  observed  have  followed 
individual  treatment  of  the  definite  problems  which 
have    been    formulated    through    diagnostic    studies. 


CONCLUSIONS  325 

Parents  or  other  older  persons  have  been  intelligent 
enough  to  meet  the  actual  and  specific  needs  of  the 
situation. 

Certain  types  of  individuals,  particularly  the  men- 
tally abnormal  and  those  with  peculiar  temperament, 
and  cases  of  conflict  following  upon  certain  types  of 
experiences,  for  instance,  homosexual  or  incestuous 
experiences,  offer  especially  difficult  problems.  I 
should  advise  that  these  cases  be  treated  by  the  most 
thorough  social  and  professional  methods. 

In  all  the  above  I  would  not  have  the  reader  lose 
sight  of  the  fact  that  sometimes  the  individual  himself 
may,  as  it  were,  institute  his  own  treatment,  as  when 
religion  or  any  other  commanding  activity  is  taken 
up.  Sublimation  of  the  conflict  may  then  take  place 
without  full  exploration  and  diagnosis.  Recently 
a  young  man  whom  we  knew  as  a  victim  of  conflicts 
years  before,  but  with  whom  we  could  never  accom- 
plish a  thorough  exploration,  reported  to  us.  After 
wandering  in  many  lands  and  after  many  attempts 
at  controlling  himself,  his  conflict  seems  to  have  been 
resolved.  He  states  the  fact  and  shows  by  his  normal 
conduct  that  he  has  lived  down  the  conflict.  No  doubt 
many  others  by  themselves  have  found  after  a  time 
some  method  of  sublimating  earlier  misconduct  im- 
pulses. 

No  one  of  our  findings  is  so  important  as  the  gen- 
eral discovery  that  the  study  of  mental  conflicts  is  a 
scientific  method  of  approaching  certain  problems  of 
misconduct,  and  that  in  this  method  lies  the  possibility 
of  rendering  great  human  service. 


INDEX 


Abreaction,  definition  of,  31 

Adopted  child,  the,  73 

Adult  offenders,  20 

Age  for  cures,  324 

Age  of  onset  of  conflicts,  314 

Analysis,  short  cuts  of,  60 

Analyst,  the  attitude  of,  57  ff. ; 
the  professional,  11 

Apperceptions,  319 

Association  processes,  control 
of,  318 

Association  reactions,  con- 
trolled, 62 

Attitude,  social,  37 

Bad  language  at  home,  73 
Bergson,  24 
Binet,  A.,  48 

Case  of  Abel  S.,  307;  AbnerB., 
187;  Ada  M.,  175;  Andrew 
M.,  300;  Anton  B.,  180; 
Arba  T.,  149;  Armond  B., 
88;  Barty  M.,  249;  Beulah 
T.,  98;  Billy  M.,  163;  Celia 
B.,  227;  Chester  N.,  285; 
Delia  B.,  203  ;  Ella  T.,  297  ; 
Emil  v.,  276  ;  James  H.,  221 ; 
Jamesie  T.,  218;  Jeddy  N., 
103  ;  John  B.,  156  ;  Jolin  N., 
232;  Lawrence  L.,  303; 
Mack  S.,  125;  Manny  J., 
243;  MeldaB.,  78;  Mildred 
E.,  254;  Nima  H.,  196; 
Octave  M.,  292;  Otto  R„ 
183;  Philip  R.,  289;  Royal 
M.,  114;  Tom  S.,  209;  Verna 
L.,  236;   William  G.,  168 


Case    65   in    "The   Individual 

Delinquent",  154 
Cases  of  mental   conflict,   pro- 
portionate number  of,  7 
Censor,  the  mental,  28,  57 
ChUdhood    experiences,    impor- 
tance of,  18 ;  sex  life,  30 
Children  of  sensitive  tempera- 
ment, 72 
Chorea,  case  of,  103 
Clinic,     mental    analysis    at    a 

public,  50 
Complex,  definition  of,  23 
Confidential  relations  of  parents 
and  children,  necessity  for,  72 
Congenital      predisposition      to 

mental  conflict,  318 
Conservation      of      energy      in 

mental  life,  31 
Constellation  of  ideas,  22 
Conversion,  44  ;  definition  of,  30 
Cooperation  of  subject,  51 
Corroboration  desirable,  60 
Criminal,  mental  resistances  of, 

50 
Cruelty,     malicious,     case     of, 
303,  306 

Detection,  escaping,  322 
Determinism  in  mental  life,  32 
Disobedience    and    dcstructive- 

ness,  case  of,  299 
Displacement,  44 
Dissociation,  25 
Diversion  of  energy  of  conflict, 

44 
Dormancy  of  conflict,  314 
Dreams,  analysis  of,  63 


327 


328 


INDEX 


Educational  process  of  men- 
tal ANALYSIS,  46 

Emotional  tone  of  mental  con- 
tent, 23,  29 

Environment,  66,  68 

Environmental  circumstances, 
321 ;    influences,  9 

Exhibitionism,  48 

Exploration,  therapeutic  value 
of,  46 

Feeblemindedness,  case  of, 
232 

Fetishistic  stealing,  47 

Flashing  up  in  the  mind,  of 
ideas,  41 

Forgotten  early  associations, 
case  of,  39 ;  mental  back- 
ground, 39 

Forgetting,  24 

Freud,  Sigmund,  18,  23,  35  note, 
38,  48,  312 

Glueck,  Bernard,  53 
Grudge  formation,  37 

Habit  formation,  9 

Habits,  criminalistic  and  social, 

323 
Hall,  Stanley,  35  note 
Heredity,  313 
Hitschmann,  49  note 
Holt,  E.  B.,  35  note,  42 
Homicidal  attempt,  case  of,  292 
Homosexuality,  48 
Horme,  31 
Hysteria,  case  of,  227 

Illegitimacy,  conflict  on  ac- 
count OF,  47 
Illegitimate  child,  the,  73 
Impulsive  mental  activities,  41 
Individuals  unsuited  to  mental 
analysis,  51 


Infantilism,  mental,  26 
Inquiry  into  experiences,  65 
Institutional  life,  324 

Jones,  Ernest,  67 
Judges,  importance  of  our  sub- 
ject for,  10 
Jung,  31,  35  note 
Juvenile  court  work,  76 

Kant's  "Streben",  45 
"Kleptomania",    operation    to 
cure,  175 

Law,  treatment  under  the, 

10,  11 
Libido,  57 
Lying  to  children,  72 

Masochism,  49 

Memory  aids,  20;  as  an  active 
force,  9 ;  Bergson  on,  24 ; 
powers,  319 

Mental  abilities,  316 ;  abnor- 
mality and  mental  analysis,  53 

Mental  analysis,  19;  aim  of, 
46;  cases  unsuited  for,  51; 
starting,  59 

Mental  associations,  early,  38 ; 
conflict,  definition  of,  22 ; 
control,  317 ;  defectives, 
mechanisms  of,  54 ;  dissocia- 
tion, 25;  dynamics,  16;  life 
revealed  by  mental  analysis, 
35  ;  mechanisms,  3 ;  represen- 
tation, powers  of,  319;  traits 
of  victims  of  conflicts,  315 

Misconduct,  varieties  of  from 
mental  conflicts,  11  Jf. 

Misrepresentation  to  children, 
72 

Moll,  Albert,  30 

Muir,  John,  40 

Nationality  and  race,  316 


INDEX 


329 


Nervous  disorders   and   mental 

conflicts,  21 ;  maladies,  nature 

of,  36 
Neurotics  as  victims  of  mental 

conflicts,  312 
Nomadism,  275 
Number  of  cases,  proportionate, 

7 

Obsessional  mental  activ- 
ities, 41 

Obsessive  fear,  Prince's  case  of, 
38 

Offenders,  methods  of  mental 
analysis  for,  55 ;  refusing  to 
yield  to  analysis,  43 

Offenses,  varieties  of,  due  to 
conflicts,  12 

Origins  of  tendencies  to  mis- 
conduct, 322 

Parents  and  children,  confi- 
dences of,  72 ;  importance  of 
our  subject  for,  10  ;  re-educa- 
tion of,  75  ;  sex  behavior  of,  71 

Pastors,  work  for,  76 

Pathological  lying,  53 

Peculiar  constitution,  as  neces- 
sary for  mental  conflict,  318 

Pfister,  Oskar,  12  note,  35  note, 
36  note 

Physiologic  functioning  related 
to  conflicts,  321 

Pleasure,  absence  of  idea  of,  17 

Prevention  of  mental  conflicts, 
69,74 

Prince,  Morton,  38,  40 

Probation  oflBcers,  importance 
of  our  subject  for,  10 

Prognosis,  323 

Psychical  energy,  31 

Psychic  shock  of  sex  experiences, 
29 

Psychoanalysis,  18 


Psychoanalj'iic  method,  defini- 
tion of,  19 
Psychomotor  control,  317 
Psychosis,  case  of,  236 
Putnam,  J.  J.,  19,  20,  35  note,  45 

Race  and  nationautt,  316 

Rationalization,  43 

Reaction    types    of    victims    of 

mental  conflicts,  321 
Recurrence  of  impulse,  16 
Re-education,  67  ;  of  parents,  75 
Repression,  40  ;  definition  of,  23 ; 

in  young  people,  56  ff. 
Resistance,  42,  50,  58 
Resolving  a  conflict,  43 

Sadism,  48 ;  case  of,  303,  306 
Sex  consciousness,   question   of 

relation  of  conflicts  to,  320 
Sex  education,  70 
Sex  experiences  and  criminalism, 

29 ;  causing  psychic  shock,  29 
" Side-tracking ","^  66 
Social  influences,  9 
Solomon,  Meyer,  19 
Special    mental    characteristics, 

317 
Stoddart,  31 

Subconscious  mental  life,  26 
Sublimation,  44,  45 
Substitution,  44 ;    definition  of, 

30 
Symbolism,  63  ;   of  fetishism,  47 
Synthesis  after  analysis,  46 

"Tatbestanddiagnostik" 

test,  62 
Teachers,    importance    of    our 

subject  for,  10 
Temperament  as  cause  of  mental 

conflict,  9 
Temper  and   violence,  case  of, 

297 


330 


INDEX 


Tests  as  diagnostic  of  conflicts,  Unconscious,  the  term,  26 

320  Urge  towards  misdoing,  2 

Tests  for  mental  ability,  64 

Therapy  of  mental  conflicts,  45  Vagrancy,  275 

Treatment,     complications     of.  Voyeurs,  48 
situation     for,     10 ;      self -in- 
duced, 325;    under  the  law,  "Wanderlust",  275  note 
10,  11  White,  W.  A.,  35  note 

True  facts,  obtaining,  60  jf.  Will,  powers  of,  319 


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DEC  8    1947 


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